Wind Turbine Payback in Burleigh County, ND
Wind turbine payback in Burleigh 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 Burleigh County, ND averages 6.43 m/s (14.4 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 22,891 kWh a year, worth $2,852 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 Burleigh County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Burleigh County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 9.1 m/s at the hub against 6.43 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,177 kWh a year here against the turbine's 2,289, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 22¢/kWh, 1.8 times what ND pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 9.1 m/s instead of 6.43. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of ND
Burleigh County is the 290th 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 Burleigh County
October is the strongest month here, at 7.00 m/s and about 2,295 kWh. July is the weakest, 5.63 m/s and 1,444 kWh, so the best month makes 1.6 times the worst. November to March brings in 43% of the year's output in Burleigh County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.61 m/s | 2,058 kWh | $256 |
| February | 6.25 m/s | 1,655 kWh | $206 |
| March | 6.70 m/s | 2,113 kWh | $263 |
| April | 6.83 m/s | 2,120 kWh | $264 |
| May | 6.65 m/s | 2,080 kWh | $259 |
| June | 6.07 m/s | 1,664 kWh | $207 |
| July | 5.63 m/s | 1,444 kWh | $180 |
| August | 5.75 m/s | 1,516 kWh | $189 |
| September | 6.48 m/s | 1,910 kWh | $238 |
| October | 7.00 m/s | 2,295 kWh | $286 |
| November | 6.73 m/s | 2,061 kWh | $257 |
| December | 6.50 m/s | 1,990 kWh | $248 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Burleigh County averages 5.11 m/s; at 50 m it is 7.16 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.210, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 19,014 to 28,179 kWh a year, 48% 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 | 5.91 m/s | 19,014 kWh | 42 years |
| 30 m | 6.43 m/s | 22,903 kWh | 35 years |
| 40 m | 6.83 m/s | 25,836 kWh | 31 years |
| 50 m | 7.16 m/s | 28,179 kWh | 29 years |
Counties around Burleigh County
6 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Sheridan County, averages 6.53 m/s.
- Kidder County, ND: 6.51 m/s, 23,481 kWh, payback 34 years (35 mi)
- Oliver County, ND: 6.49 m/s, 23,333 kWh, payback 34 years (42 mi)
- Sheridan County, ND: 6.53 m/s, 23,628 kWh, payback 34 years (42 mi)
- Morton County, ND: 6.53 m/s, 23,628 kWh, payback 34 years (44 mi)
- Emmons County, ND: 6.53 m/s, 23,628 kWh, payback 34 years (49 mi)
- Wells County, ND: 6.53 m/s, 23,628 kWh, payback 34 years (56 mi)
Sun versus wind in Burleigh County
Burleigh County gets 4.03 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,177 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 2,289. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 1.9 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.