Wind Turbine Payback in De Baca County, NM
Wind turbine payback in De Baca 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 De Baca County, NM averages 6.1 m/s (13.6 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 20,446 kWh a year, worth $3,136 at NM's 15.34¢/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 De Baca County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in De Baca County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.8 m/s at the hub against 6.1 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,626 kWh a year here against the turbine's 2,045, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 24¢/kWh, 1.6 times what NM pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.8 m/s instead of 6.1. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of NM
De Baca County is the 685th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in NM is Union County at 6.75 m/s, payback 26 years.
Month by month in De Baca County
April is the strongest month here, at 7.04 m/s and about 2,248 kWh. August is the weakest, 4.68 m/s and 889 kWh, so the best month makes 2.5 times the worst. November to March brings in 49% of the year's output in De Baca County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.52 m/s | 2,000 kWh | $307 |
| February | 6.73 m/s | 1,926 kWh | $295 |
| March | 6.81 m/s | 2,182 kWh | $335 |
| April | 7.04 m/s | 2,248 kWh | $345 |
| May | 6.36 m/s | 1,899 kWh | $291 |
| June | 5.93 m/s | 1,577 kWh | $242 |
| July | 4.97 m/s | 1,047 kWh | $161 |
| August | 4.68 m/s | 889 kWh | $136 |
| September | 5.39 m/s | 1,252 kWh | $192 |
| October | 5.92 m/s | 1,624 kWh | $249 |
| November | 6.37 m/s | 1,843 kWh | $283 |
| December | 6.57 m/s | 2,033 kWh | $312 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in De Baca County averages 4.75 m/s; at 50 m it is 6.85 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.227, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 16,497 to 25,964 kWh a year, 57% 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 | 5.56 m/s | 16,497 kWh | 40 years |
| 30 m | 6.1 m/s | 20,446 kWh | 32 years |
| 40 m | 6.51 m/s | 23,493 kWh | 28 years |
| 50 m | 6.85 m/s | 25,964 kWh | 25 years |
Counties around De Baca County
3 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Curry County, averages 6.41 m/s.
- Guadalupe County, NM: 6.34 m/s, 22,225 kWh, payback 29 years (42 mi)
- Roosevelt County, NM: 6.01 m/s, 19,778 kWh, payback 33 years (56 mi)
- Curry County, NM: 6.41 m/s, 22,743 kWh, payback 29 years (60 mi)
- Chaves County, NM: 5.42 m/s, 15,462 kWh, payback 42 years (69 mi)
- Quay County, NM: 6.32 m/s, 22,077 kWh, payback 30 years (70 mi)
- Lincoln County, NM: 5.12 m/s, 13,353 kWh, payback 49 years (75 mi)
Sun versus wind in De Baca County
De Baca County gets 5.57 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,626 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 2,045. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 1.3 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.