Wind Turbine Payback in Dickey County, ND
Wind turbine payback in Dickey 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 Dickey County, ND averages 6.5 m/s (14.5 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 23,407 kWh a year, worth $2,917 at ND's 12.46¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 34 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Dickey County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Dickey County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 9.1 m/s at the hub against 6.5 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,171 kWh a year here against the turbine's 2,341, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 21¢/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 6.5. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of ND
Dickey County is the 208th 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 Dickey County
October is the strongest month here, at 7.06 m/s and about 2,334 kWh. July is the weakest, 5.61 m/s and 1,429 kWh, so the best month makes 1.6 times the worst. November to March brings in 43% of the year's output in Dickey County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.68 m/s | 2,098 kWh | $261 |
| February | 6.46 m/s | 1,774 kWh | $221 |
| March | 6.66 m/s | 2,087 kWh | $260 |
| April | 6.95 m/s | 2,196 kWh | $274 |
| May | 6.78 m/s | 2,165 kWh | $270 |
| June | 6.13 m/s | 1,698 kWh | $212 |
| July | 5.61 m/s | 1,429 kWh | $178 |
| August | 5.70 m/s | 1,485 kWh | $185 |
| September | 6.60 m/s | 1,987 kWh | $248 |
| October | 7.06 m/s | 2,334 kWh | $291 |
| November | 6.77 m/s | 2,084 kWh | $260 |
| December | 6.60 m/s | 2,053 kWh | $256 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Dickey County averages 5.15 m/s; at 50 m it is 7.24 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.212, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 19,421 to 28,741 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 | 5.96 m/s | 19,421 kWh | 41 years |
| 30 m | 6.5 m/s | 23,384 kWh | 34 years |
| 40 m | 6.91 m/s | 26,365 kWh | 30 years |
| 50 m | 7.24 m/s | 28,741 kWh | 28 years |
Counties around Dickey County
3 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, McPherson County, averages 6.65 m/s.
- LaMoure County, ND: 6.61 m/s, 24,216 kWh, payback 33 years (25 mi)
- Brown County, SD: 6.3 m/s, 21,929 kWh, payback 31 years (36 mi)
- McPherson County, SD: 6.65 m/s, 24,509 kWh, payback 28 years (41 mi)
- Sargent County, ND: 6.44 m/s, 22,964 kWh, payback 35 years (42 mi)
- McIntosh County, ND: 6.65 m/s, 24,509 kWh, payback 33 years (44 mi)
- Ransom County, ND: 6.28 m/s, 21,781 kWh, payback 37 years (47 mi)
Sun versus wind in Dickey County
Dickey County gets 4.01 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,171 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 2,341. 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.