Wind Turbine Payback in Grays Harbor County, WA
Wind turbine payback in Grays Harbor 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 Grays Harbor County, WA averages 3.45 m/s (7.7 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 4,133 kWh a year, worth $596 at WA's 14.42¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of over 100 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Grays Harbor County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Grays Harbor County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 8.1 m/s at the hub against 3.45 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 999 kWh a year here against the turbine's 413, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 121¢/kWh, 8.4 times what WA pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 8.1 m/s instead of 3.45. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of WA
Grays Harbor County is the 2,569th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in WA is Columbia County at 5.18 m/s, payback 50 years.
Month by month in Grays Harbor County
January is the strongest month here, at 4.10 m/s and about 600 kWh. August is the weakest, 2.82 m/s and 178 kWh, so the best month makes 3.4 times the worst. November to March brings in 60% of the year's output in Grays Harbor County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4.10 m/s | 600 kWh | $87 |
| February | 3.72 m/s | 401 kWh | $58 |
| March | 3.77 m/s | 464 kWh | $67 |
| April | 3.42 m/s | 330 kWh | $48 |
| May | 3.07 m/s | 238 kWh | $34 |
| June | 3.06 m/s | 228 kWh | $33 |
| July | 2.94 m/s | 206 kWh | $30 |
| August | 2.82 m/s | 178 kWh | $26 |
| September | 2.98 m/s | 209 kWh | $30 |
| October | 3.50 m/s | 366 kWh | $53 |
| November | 4.04 m/s | 559 kWh | $81 |
| December | 4.08 m/s | 593 kWh | $86 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Grays Harbor County averages 2.4 m/s; at 50 m it is 4.09 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.331, typical of rough, sheltered ground: trees or buildings slow the low wind a lot. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 2,660 to 7,038 kWh a year, 165% 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 | 3.02 m/s | 2,660 kWh | over 100 years |
| 30 m | 3.45 m/s | 4,147 kWh | over 100 years |
| 40 m | 3.8 m/s | 5,609 kWh | over 100 years |
| 50 m | 4.09 m/s | 7,038 kWh | 99 years |
Counties around Grays Harbor County
1 of the 6 closest counties is windier at turbine height; the windiest, Pacific County, averages 3.57 m/s.
- Mason County, WA: 2.6 m/s, 1,565 kWh, payback over 100 years (35 mi)
- Pacific County, WA: 3.57 m/s, 4,612 kWh, payback over 100 years (39 mi)
- Thurston County, WA: 2.81 m/s, 2,073 kWh, payback over 100 years (49 mi)
- Jefferson County, WA: 3.01 m/s, 2,631 kWh, payback over 100 years (50 mi)
- Wahkiakum County, WA: 2.89 m/s, 2,287 kWh, payback over 100 years (60 mi)
- Kitsap County, WA: 2.97 m/s, 2,513 kWh, payback over 100 years (66 mi)
Sun versus wind in Grays Harbor County
Grays Harbor County gets 3.42 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 999 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 413. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 2.4 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.