Wind Turbine Payback in Billings County, ND
Wind turbine payback in Billings 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 Billings County, ND averages 6.76 m/s (15.1 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 25,311 kWh a year, worth $3,154 at ND's 12.46¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 32 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Billings County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Billings County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 9.1 m/s at the hub against 6.76 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,156 kWh a year here against the turbine's 2,531, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 20¢/kWh, 1.6 times what ND pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 9.1 m/s instead of 6.76. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of ND
Billings County is the 40th 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 Billings County
January is the strongest month here, at 7.36 m/s and about 2,511 kWh. July is the weakest, 5.90 m/s and 1,614 kWh, so the best month makes 1.6 times the worst. November to March brings in 45% of the year's output in Billings County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 7.36 m/s | 2,511 kWh | $313 |
| February | 6.65 m/s | 1,883 kWh | $235 |
| March | 7.00 m/s | 2,295 kWh | $286 |
| April | 6.94 m/s | 2,189 kWh | $273 |
| May | 6.71 m/s | 2,118 kWh | $264 |
| June | 6.28 m/s | 1,793 kWh | $223 |
| July | 5.90 m/s | 1,614 kWh | $201 |
| August | 5.99 m/s | 1,665 kWh | $207 |
| September | 6.62 m/s | 1,995 kWh | $249 |
| October | 7.23 m/s | 2,436 kWh | $304 |
| November | 7.28 m/s | 2,384 kWh | $297 |
| December | 7.18 m/s | 2,404 kWh | $300 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Billings County averages 5.43 m/s; at 50 m it is 7.49 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.200, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 21,453 to 30,468 kWh a year, 42% 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 | 6.24 m/s | 21,453 kWh | 37 years |
| 30 m | 6.76 m/s | 25,330 kWh | 32 years |
| 40 m | 7.16 m/s | 28,201 kWh | 29 years |
| 50 m | 7.49 m/s | 30,468 kWh | 26 years |
Counties around Billings County
1 of the 6 closest counties is windier at turbine height; the windiest, Slope County, averages 6.78 m/s.
- Golden Valley County, ND: 6.68 m/s, 24,728 kWh, payback 33 years (23 mi)
- Stark County, ND: 6.7 m/s, 24,874 kWh, payback 32 years (36 mi)
- Slope County, ND: 6.78 m/s, 25,457 kWh, payback 32 years (39 mi)
- Dunn County, ND: 6.57 m/s, 23,922 kWh, payback 34 years (43 mi)
- Wibaux County, MT: 6.43 m/s, 22,891 kWh, payback 31 years (43 mi)
- McKenzie County, ND: 6.59 m/s, 24,069 kWh, payback 33 years (51 mi)
Sun versus wind in Billings County
Billings County gets 3.96 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,156 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 2,531. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 2.2 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.