Wind Turbine Payback in Bottineau County, ND
Wind turbine payback in Bottineau 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 Bottineau County, ND averages 5.7 m/s (12.8 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 17,492 kWh a year, worth $2,179 at ND's 12.46¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 46 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Bottineau County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Bottineau County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 9.1 m/s at the hub against 5.7 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,136 kWh a year here against the turbine's 1,749, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 29¢/kWh, 2.3 times what ND pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 9.1 m/s instead of 5.7. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of ND
Bottineau County is the 1,132nd 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 Bottineau County
April is the strongest month here, at 6.27 m/s and about 1,785 kWh. July is the weakest, 5.00 m/s and 1,063 kWh, so the best month makes 1.7 times the worst. November to March brings in 43% of the year's output in Bottineau County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5.78 m/s | 1,533 kWh | $191 |
| February | 5.62 m/s | 1,296 kWh | $161 |
| March | 6.13 m/s | 1,756 kWh | $219 |
| April | 6.27 m/s | 1,785 kWh | $222 |
| May | 6.05 m/s | 1,705 kWh | $212 |
| June | 5.47 m/s | 1,299 kWh | $162 |
| July | 5.00 m/s | 1,063 kWh | $132 |
| August | 5.03 m/s | 1,084 kWh | $135 |
| September | 5.59 m/s | 1,372 kWh | $171 |
| October | 6.01 m/s | 1,678 kWh | $209 |
| November | 5.89 m/s | 1,554 kWh | $194 |
| December | 5.58 m/s | 1,412 kWh | $176 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Bottineau County averages 4.38 m/s; at 50 m it is 6.44 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.240, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 13,689 to 22,964 kWh a year, 68% 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 | 5.17 m/s | 13,689 kWh | 59 years |
| 30 m | 5.7 m/s | 17,469 kWh | 46 years |
| 40 m | 6.1 m/s | 20,477 kWh | 39 years |
| 50 m | 6.44 m/s | 22,964 kWh | 35 years |
Counties around Bottineau County
6 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Renville County, averages 6.51 m/s.
- Renville County, ND: 6.51 m/s, 23,481 kWh, payback 34 years (38 mi)
- McHenry County, ND: 6.42 m/s, 22,817 kWh, payback 35 years (40 mi)
- Rolette County, ND: 5.79 m/s, 18,153 kWh, payback 44 years (45 mi)
- Ward County, ND: 6.49 m/s, 23,333 kWh, payback 34 years (51 mi)
- Pierce County, ND: 6.39 m/s, 22,595 kWh, payback 36 years (55 mi)
- Towner County, ND: 6.36 m/s, 22,373 kWh, payback 36 years (73 mi)
Sun versus wind in Bottineau County
Bottineau County gets 3.89 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,136 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 1,749. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 1.5 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.