Wind Turbine Payback in Divide County, ND
Wind turbine payback in Divide 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 Divide County, ND averages 6.42 m/s (14.4 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 22,817 kWh a year, worth $2,843 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 Divide County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Divide County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 9.1 m/s at the hub against 6.42 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,148 kWh a year here against the turbine's 2,282, 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 6.42. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of ND
Divide County is the 301st 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 Divide County
October is the strongest month here, at 6.78 m/s and about 2,161 kWh. August is the weakest, 5.72 m/s and 1,498 kWh, so the best month makes 1.4 times the worst. November to March brings in 44% of the year's output in Divide County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.76 m/s | 2,150 kWh | $268 |
| February | 6.23 m/s | 1,643 kWh | $205 |
| March | 6.66 m/s | 2,089 kWh | $260 |
| April | 6.77 m/s | 2,086 kWh | $260 |
| May | 6.55 m/s | 2,016 kWh | $251 |
| June | 6.06 m/s | 1,656 kWh | $206 |
| July | 5.72 m/s | 1,498 kWh | $187 |
| August | 5.72 m/s | 1,498 kWh | $187 |
| September | 6.24 m/s | 1,766 kWh | $220 |
| October | 6.78 m/s | 2,161 kWh | $269 |
| November | 6.83 m/s | 2,124 kWh | $265 |
| December | 6.64 m/s | 2,078 kWh | $259 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Divide County averages 5.09 m/s; at 50 m it is 7.15 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.211, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 18,913 to 28,109 kWh a year, 49% 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 | 5.89 m/s | 18,913 kWh | 42 years |
| 30 m | 6.42 m/s | 22,812 kWh | 35 years |
| 40 m | 6.82 m/s | 25,755 kWh | 31 years |
| 50 m | 7.15 m/s | 28,109 kWh | 29 years |
Counties around Divide County
2 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, McKenzie County, averages 6.59 m/s.
- Williams County, ND: 6.33 m/s, 22,151 kWh, payback 36 years (32 mi)
- Burke County, ND: 6.41 m/s, 22,743 kWh, payback 35 years (45 mi)
- Sheridan County, MT: 6.24 m/s, 21,484 kWh, payback 33 years (47 mi)
- Mountrail County, ND: 6.53 m/s, 23,628 kWh, payback 34 years (67 mi)
- McKenzie County, ND: 6.59 m/s, 24,069 kWh, payback 33 years (74 mi)
- Roosevelt County, MT: 6.24 m/s, 21,484 kWh, payback 33 years (77 mi)
Sun versus wind in Divide County
Divide County gets 3.93 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,148 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 2,282. 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.