Wind Turbine Payback in Benson County, ND
Wind turbine payback in Benson County
No. The turbine wears out before it pays for itself.
At 30 m, the height a home turbine tower usually reaches, the wind in Benson County, ND averages 6.44 m/s (14.4 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 22,964 kWh a year, worth $2,861 at ND's 12.46¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 35 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Benson County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Benson County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 9.1 m/s at the hub against 6.44 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,130 kWh a year here against the turbine's 2,296, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 22¢/kWh, 1.7 times what ND pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 9.1 m/s instead of 6.44. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of ND
Benson County is the 280th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in ND is Bowman County at 6.79 m/s, payback 31 years.
Month by month in Benson County
October is the strongest month here, at 6.99 m/s and about 2,289 kWh. July is the weakest, 5.64 m/s and 1,450 kWh, so the best month makes 1.6 times the worst. November to March brings in 42% of the year's output in Benson County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.50 m/s | 1,988 kWh | $248 |
| February | 6.27 m/s | 1,663 kWh | $207 |
| March | 6.67 m/s | 2,095 kWh | $261 |
| April | 6.91 m/s | 2,167 kWh | $270 |
| May | 6.80 m/s | 2,173 kWh | $271 |
| June | 6.18 m/s | 1,726 kWh | $215 |
| July | 5.64 m/s | 1,450 kWh | $181 |
| August | 5.76 m/s | 1,523 kWh | $190 |
| September | 6.47 m/s | 1,907 kWh | $238 |
| October | 6.99 m/s | 2,289 kWh | $285 |
| November | 6.71 m/s | 2,049 kWh | $255 |
| December | 6.34 m/s | 1,886 kWh | $235 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Benson County averages 5.15 m/s; at 50 m it is 7.14 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.203, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 19,172 to 28,038 kWh a year, 46% 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 | 5.93 m/s | 19,172 kWh | 42 years |
| 30 m | 6.44 m/s | 22,940 kWh | 35 years |
| 40 m | 6.82 m/s | 25,774 kWh | 31 years |
| 50 m | 7.14 m/s | 28,038 kWh | 29 years |
Counties around Benson County
4 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Ramsey County, averages 6.53 m/s.
- Pierce County, ND: 6.39 m/s, 22,595 kWh, payback 36 years (31 mi)
- Ramsey County, ND: 6.53 m/s, 23,628 kWh, payback 34 years (31 mi)
- Eddy County, ND: 6.52 m/s, 23,554 kWh, payback 34 years (32 mi)
- Wells County, ND: 6.53 m/s, 23,628 kWh, payback 34 years (37 mi)
- Towner County, ND: 6.36 m/s, 22,373 kWh, payback 36 years (42 mi)
- Foster County, ND: 6.52 m/s, 23,554 kWh, payback 34 years (47 mi)
Sun versus wind in Benson County
Benson County gets 3.87 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,130 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 2,296. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 2.0 times. 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.