High appreciation of Sustainable Biomass Programmes in 2011

In 2011 clients (project developers) of the Global Sustainable Biomass Fund and the Sustainable Biomass Import Fund again showed their appreciation of the services provided. Satisfaction levels rose another year on, resulting in the excellent average score of 8 (2010: average score 7.4). According to clients, the programmes make a profound difference: nearly half the projects would not have been executed without its aid and assistance.

Clients show high appreciation of the services of the financial and programme advisors, both meriting an 8 on average. Especially the client service and usability of the information provided are held in highest regard. Services by email find intensive use and were awarded a 7.9. The survey also shows the website is frequently visited, though there is room to improve on structure and the ease of locating it within the larger NL Agency website.

Programme effects and additional assistance
Clients suppose that nearly half the projects would not have been executed, had they not received funding. Another third would otherwise have carried out projects on a smaller scale. They also value the additional assistance that the programmes recently developed (add-ons) offering a robust analysis of the sustainability of their efforts. The main issues clients would like to receive additional assistance with in the future are 1) approaching investors after a grant period and 2) assisting with financial and economic aspects during the grant period. NL Agency has already started activities that meet with these suggestions.

Improvements
Suggestions for improvement are, among others, co-financing programmes to support the scaling up of pilot projects and the provision of a single point of contact for financial matters. These suggestions may bring the Sustainable Biomass programmes to their next level of quality.