Verra issues first carbon credits under a digital MRV pilot enabling monthly or bi-monthly issuances.
The Comoros solar project demonstrates fully digital verification and data transfer, improving transparency and speed.
Pilot framework could reshape credit supply timelines and data integrity across renewable energy, CCS, and clean cooking projects.
Verra has approved the first carbon credits issued under a digital monitoring, reporting, and verification (DMRV) pilot designed to enable high-frequency issuances. The initiative allows projects to receive credits monthly or bi-monthly rather than waiting for traditional multi-year verification cycles.
The inaugural credits were generated by the Foumbouni-Mitsamiouli solar farm project (Verra Project 3788), developed and operated by Aera Group. Located on Grande Comore, the facility supplies renewable electricity to communities with historically unreliable power access, replacing fossil-fuel generation and stabilizing local energy supply.
The project applies the Clean Development Mechanism methodology AMS I.-D.: Grid Connected Renewable Electricity Generation, ensuring alignment with established UN carbon accounting practices.
Fully Digital MRV Process Sets New Benchmark
SustainCERT served as the validation and verification body, conducting an entirely digital verification of monitoring data submitted by Aera Group. The process demonstrates how project performance data can be verified remotely through digital systems, eliminating paper-based workflows and manual data transfer.
Piloting a DMRV-based high-frequency issuance process forms part of Verra’s broader effort to digitize the full project cycle. The Verra Project Hub, its online platform for project creation and management, enables direct submission of monitoring data that informs quantification of net emission reductions and removals, as well as verification reports.
The system allows climate benefit data, such as electricity generation output, to be directly imported into the platform. This reduces reporting lag and strengthens traceability of emissions reductions.
Faster Issuances With Safeguards Built In
Under the pilot framework, projects approved through DMRV-based verification can request issuance of 80% of approved credits immediately. Verra withholds the remaining 20% as a safeguard while the pilot is evaluated.
After one year of high-frequency issuances, project proponents must complete a full verification covering additional parameters including safeguards and stakeholder engagement. Once approved through a non-DMRV verification request, the remaining credits may be issued.
This staged approach balances speed and market liquidity with quality assurance and risk management.
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Implications for Carbon Markets and Climate Finance
High-frequency issuance could materially improve cash flow for project developers, particularly in emerging markets where predictable revenue streams determine project viability. Faster credit issuance also increases transparency for buyers and investors seeking near-real-time performance data.
Improved data integrity and automated reporting may reduce transaction costs and administrative burdens for project proponents and verification bodies. For credit buyers, enhanced transparency and traceability address longstanding concerns around data reliability and verification timelines.
The Comoros solar project highlights how digital MRV can support energy access goals alongside climate mitigation, reinforcing the role of carbon finance in supporting infrastructure in underserved regions.
Expansion Across Technologies Underway
Verra is currently piloting the DMRV-based high-frequency issuance process across additional project types, including carbon capture and storage and clean cookstove initiatives. Broader adoption could standardize digital verification practices and accelerate credit issuance across diverse mitigation activities.
If scaled successfully, the approach may help modernize voluntary carbon markets by improving issuance speed, strengthening data confidence, and aligning project performance reporting with the expectations of institutional investors and corporate climate buyers.
For executives and investors navigating evolving carbon markets, the pilot signals a shift toward digital infrastructure, improved transparency, and more responsive credit supply, developments that could reshape how climate projects are financed and verified worldwide.
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