Santander and Las Tapias Renewable Energy Project

Audit Analysis

A Gold Standard biomass fuel-switch avoidance project in Colombia with VVB-confirmed additionality and no reversal events, but undermined by a questionable 0% leakage deduction (flagged by the VVB as inconsistent with the PDD), an unresolved FPIC contradiction between the 2021 validation and 2024 verification reports, and multiple material findings including PDD renewal delays and a participant withdrawal. The project delivered roughly 88% of its pro-rata ex-ante expectation for the 2024 monitoring period, indicating conservative crediting, but data-quality issues around leakage and the verified-exceeding-claimed ERR pattern reduce confidence in the underlying figures.

Project Description

Red Flags

• ⚠The 2024 verification report records a material finding that leakage figures in the monitoring report did not agree with the PDD, and the project proponent initially could not provide data sources for reported leakage figures — yet the final leakage deduction remains 0% with a 'deemed negligible' justification.
• ⚠FPIC status is contradictory: the 2021 validation report states FPIC was conducted, while the 2024 verification report states it was not — an unresolved discrepancy in a project involving community-level fuel switching.
• ⚠Verified ERR (22,985 tCO2e) exceeds claimed ERR (18,433 tCO2e) within the same 2024 verification report, an unusual pattern that raises questions about the internal consistency of the MRV data.
• ⚠Las Tapias 3 Ceramic Industry voluntarily withdrew from the project for the second crediting period and could not provide monitoring information, with its reductions set to zero — a partial loss of project scope that is not reflected in the ex-ante lifetime estimate.

Credit Vintages