Wind Turbine Payback in Anchorage Municipality, AK
Wind turbine payback in Anchorage Municipality
No. The turbine wears out before it pays for itself.
At 30 m, the height a home turbine tower usually reaches, the wind in Anchorage Municipality, AK averages 3.5 m/s (7.8 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 4,329 kWh a year, worth $1,183 at AK's 27.32¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 85 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Anchorage Municipality
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Anchorage Municipality unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 5.8 m/s at the hub against 3.5 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 742 kWh a year here against the turbine's 433, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 116¢/kWh, 4.2 times what AK pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 5.8 m/s instead of 3.5. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of AK
Anchorage Municipality is the 2,507th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in AK is Aleutians West Census Area at 9.35 m/s, payback 9 years.
Month by month in Anchorage Municipality
December is the strongest month here, at 4.07 m/s and about 589 kWh. July is the weakest, 2.88 m/s and 192 kWh, so the best month makes 3.1 times the worst. November to March brings in 53% of the year's output in Anchorage Municipality.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 3.96 m/s | 541 kWh | $148 |
| February | 4.00 m/s | 503 kWh | $137 |
| March | 3.33 m/s | 312 kWh | $85 |
| April | 3.47 m/s | 348 kWh | $95 |
| May | 3.27 m/s | 295 kWh | $81 |
| June | 2.94 m/s | 199 kWh | $54 |
| July | 2.88 m/s | 192 kWh | $52 |
| August | 3.08 m/s | 243 kWh | $66 |
| September | 3.57 m/s | 378 kWh | $103 |
| October | 3.70 m/s | 438 kWh | $120 |
| November | 3.75 m/s | 444 kWh | $121 |
| December | 4.07 m/s | 589 kWh | $161 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Anchorage Municipality averages 2.99 m/s; at 50 m it is 3.77 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.144, typical of very open, smooth ground where height adds little. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 3,591 to 5,477 kWh a year, 53% more, before counting the extra cost of the taller tower. Why tower height decides it explains the shear behind these numbers.
| Hub height | Average wind | Output | Payback |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20 m | 3.3 m/s | 3,591 kWh | over 100 years |
| 30 m | 3.5 m/s | 4,339 kWh | 84 years |
| 40 m | 3.65 m/s | 4,951 kWh | 74 years |
| 50 m | 3.77 m/s | 5,477 kWh | 67 years |
Counties around Anchorage Municipality
4 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Chugach Census Area, averages 6.07 m/s.
- Matanuska-Susitna Borough, AK: 4.5 m/s, 9,339 kWh, payback 39 years (76 mi)
- Chugach Census Area, AK: 6.07 m/s, 20,223 kWh, payback 18 years (114 mi)
- Kenai Peninsula Borough, AK: 3.87 m/s, 5,942 kWh, payback 62 years (117 mi)
- Denali Borough, AK: 4.06 m/s, 6,883 kWh, payback 53 years (175 mi)
- Copper River Census Area, AK: 2.86 m/s, 2,205 kWh, payback over 100 years (186 mi)
- Fairbanks North Star Borough, AK: 3.23 m/s, 3,333 kWh, payback over 100 years (257 mi)
Sun versus wind in Anchorage Municipality
Anchorage Municipality gets 2.54 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 742 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 433. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 1.7 times as much here as the turbine. Panel output assumes an 80% system performance ratio. Wind or solar runs the same comparison for every county.
How this is worked out
Wind is NASA's Power climate record, the 2001-2025 average at 10 m and 50 m for the county's centre, carried to 30 m with this county's own measured wind shear and spread into hours with a Rayleigh distribution. The turbine is a generic 10 kW, 7 m rotor machine with 10% losses. Cost is $10,000 per kW installed with no tax credit, because the federal one ended in 2025. One county-centre number cannot see your hilltop or your tree line, so treat it as the starting point for a site survey, not a substitute. The full method and its weak spots are in how the numbers are made.