Introduced at the beginning of 2012, the "market premium" mechanism has proved enormously popular because it results in better returns than the feed-in tariff system to which it is linked.
In particular, the "management premium" component of the "market premium", designed to cover the costs of trading was fixed at a generous level. By October 2012, about 75% of Germany's 30GW of wind capacity had switched to the system.
But after criticism from the opposition Greens Party and the renewables sector itself, the conservative-liberal federal government agreed a new "management premium" regulation ( Managementpraemieverordnung – MaPrV) on 29th August 2012, which was passed by federal parliament on 18th October.
This reduces the management premium from the beginning of 2013 from the originally planned €0.01/kWh to €0.0065-0.0075/kWh, but is expected to still provide sufficient incentive to stop wind operators from switching back to the classic feed-in tariff system. In 2012, the management premium amounts to €0.012/kWh
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