Wind Turbine Payback in Emmons County, ND
Wind turbine payback in Emmons 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 Emmons County, ND averages 6.53 m/s (14.6 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 23,628 kWh a year, worth $2,944 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 Emmons County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Emmons County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 9.1 m/s at the hub against 6.53 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,177 kWh a year here against the turbine's 2,363, 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 6.53. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of ND
Emmons County is the 165th 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 Emmons County
October is the strongest month here, at 7.07 m/s and about 2,337 kWh. July is the weakest, 5.74 m/s and 1,512 kWh, so the best month makes 1.5 times the worst. November to March brings in 42% of the year's output in Emmons County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.63 m/s | 2,072 kWh | $258 |
| February | 6.35 m/s | 1,708 kWh | $213 |
| March | 6.78 m/s | 2,161 kWh | $269 |
| April | 6.98 m/s | 2,209 kWh | $275 |
| May | 6.83 m/s | 2,194 kWh | $273 |
| June | 6.24 m/s | 1,764 kWh | $220 |
| July | 5.74 m/s | 1,512 kWh | $188 |
| August | 5.88 m/s | 1,597 kWh | $199 |
| September | 6.63 m/s | 2,005 kWh | $250 |
| October | 7.07 m/s | 2,337 kWh | $291 |
| November | 6.76 m/s | 2,080 kWh | $259 |
| December | 6.56 m/s | 2,027 kWh | $253 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Emmons County averages 5.21 m/s; at 50 m it is 7.26 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.206, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 19,787 to 28,881 kWh a year, 46% 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 | 6.01 m/s | 19,787 kWh | 41 years |
| 30 m | 6.53 m/s | 23,664 kWh | 34 years |
| 40 m | 6.93 m/s | 26,569 kWh | 30 years |
| 50 m | 7.26 m/s | 28,881 kWh | 28 years |
Counties around Emmons County
4 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Logan County, averages 6.69 m/s.
- Campbell County, SD: 6.57 m/s, 23,922 kWh, payback 29 years (36 mi)
- Logan County, ND: 6.69 m/s, 24,801 kWh, payback 32 years (37 mi)
- McIntosh County, ND: 6.65 m/s, 24,509 kWh, payback 33 years (41 mi)
- Sioux County, ND: 6.56 m/s, 23,849 kWh, payback 34 years (41 mi)
- Burleigh County, ND: 6.43 m/s, 22,891 kWh, payback 35 years (49 mi)
- Kidder County, ND: 6.51 m/s, 23,481 kWh, payback 34 years (51 mi)
Sun versus wind in Emmons County
Emmons 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 2,363. 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.