Nepal Biogas Support Program-CPA 8: 19,445 digesters

Audit Analysis

A large-scale Nepal biogas programme (19,445 digesters under CPA 8 of a Gold Standard PoA) with VVB-confirmed additionality and a quantified 5% leakage deduction, but undermined by the absence of a buffer pool, unverified usage rates, a project-specific baseline, and a long list of material findings and corrective actions. The low extraction confidence and multiple cross-document contradictions (notably on FNRB method and crediting period) reduce confidence in the data record.

Project Description

Red Flags

• ⚠No buffer pool or permanence mechanism is documented for a project type (biogas digesters) where equipment failure and reversal risk are material; no reversal-event data is available either.
• ⚠FPIC was not conducted (explicitly recorded as false in the extracted record), despite the project affecting 19,445 rural households.
• ⚠The verification report lists numerous material findings including formula discrepancies, non-operational digesters identified during site visits, and a statement that actual emission reductions are lower than ex-ante estimates due to reduced operational status.
• ⚠FNRB method is recorded as 'national default' in the 2026 verification report but as 'local field' in the 2020 monitoring report — an unresolved methodological contradiction.
• ⚠Crediting period is stated as 2017–2022 in the monitoring report but 2024–2031 in the 2024 validation report, creating ambiguity about which period the ex-ante estimate of 455,721 tCO₂e applies to.

Credit Vintages