Wind Turbine Payback in Grant County, NM
Wind turbine payback in Grant 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 Grant County, NM averages 5.52 m/s (12.3 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 16,181 kWh a year, worth $2,482 at NM's 15.34¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 40 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Grant County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Grant County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.8 m/s at the hub against 5.52 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,699 kWh a year here against the turbine's 1,618, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 31¢/kWh, 2.0 times what NM pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.8 m/s instead of 5.52. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of NM
Grant County is the 1,207th 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 Grant County
April is the strongest month here, at 6.84 m/s and about 2,126 kWh. August is the weakest, 4.23 m/s and 663 kWh, so the best month makes 3.2 times the worst. November to March brings in 44% of the year's output in Grant County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5.37 m/s | 1,281 kWh | $197 |
| February | 5.91 m/s | 1,461 kWh | $224 |
| March | 6.27 m/s | 1,841 kWh | $282 |
| April | 6.84 m/s | 2,126 kWh | $326 |
| May | 6.42 m/s | 1,937 kWh | $297 |
| June | 5.82 m/s | 1,511 kWh | $232 |
| July | 4.52 m/s | 803 kWh | $123 |
| August | 4.23 m/s | 663 kWh | $102 |
| September | 4.80 m/s | 919 kWh | $141 |
| October | 5.27 m/s | 1,222 kWh | $187 |
| November | 5.44 m/s | 1,281 kWh | $197 |
| December | 5.39 m/s | 1,297 kWh | $199 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Grant County averages 4.31 m/s; at 50 m it is 6.19 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.225, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 12,784 to 21,113 kWh a year, 65% 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 | 5.04 m/s | 12,784 kWh | 51 years |
| 30 m | 5.52 m/s | 16,166 kWh | 40 years |
| 40 m | 5.89 m/s | 18,867 kWh | 35 years |
| 50 m | 6.19 m/s | 21,113 kWh | 31 years |
Counties around Grant County
None of the 6 closest counties is windier than Grant County.
- Luna County, NM: 5.33 m/s, 14,821 kWh, payback 44 years (53 mi)
- Greenlee County, AZ: 4.17 m/s, 7,461 kWh, payback 87 years (61 mi)
- Hidalgo County, NM: 5.18 m/s, 13,768 kWh, payback 47 years (62 mi)
- Sierra County, NM: 5.05 m/s, 12,873 kWh, payback 51 years (74 mi)
- Catron County, NM: 5.45 m/s, 15,677 kWh, payback 42 years (81 mi)
- Graham County, AZ: 4.09 m/s, 7,038 kWh, payback 93 years (88 mi)
Sun versus wind in Grant County
Grant County gets 5.82 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,699 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 1,618. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 1.1 times as much here as the turbine. 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.