Zhongshan County Micro Hydro Project Bundle No.2

Audit Analysis

A micro-hydro project in China with verified additionality and smart-meter monitoring, but hampered by multiple calculation errors requiring corrective action, a project-specific baseline (contradicted by an earlier 'jurisdictional' label), and the absence of FPIC. The project delivered roughly 90% of its pro-rata emission-reduction expectation for the elapsed monitoring period, which is within acceptable variance for a small hydro scheme.

Project Description

Red Flags

• ⚠Multiple calculation errors identified in the 2025 verification report (CAR-1: wrong day-count for electricity export/import in May 2017; CAR-2: Gongtan station reported zero grid import inconsistent with ETNs), indicating weak internal QA before submission
• ⚠FPIC was not conducted despite the project operating in a rural Chinese county, and the 2020 monitoring report did not document a grievance mechanism or benefit-sharing plan (both confirmed only in the 2025 verification report)
• ⚠Baseline method is contradictory across documents: the 2025 verification report states a project-specific baseline while the 2020 monitoring report describes a jurisdictional baseline, creating uncertainty about which method actually underpins the credit calculation

Credit Vintages