Wind Turbine Payback in Kenai Peninsula Borough, AK
Wind turbine payback in Kenai Peninsula Borough
No. The turbine wears out before it pays for itself.
At 30 m, the height a home turbine tower usually reaches, the wind in Kenai Peninsula Borough, AK averages 3.87 m/s (8.7 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 5,942 kWh a year, worth $1,623 at AK's 27.32¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 62 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Kenai Peninsula Borough
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Kenai Peninsula Borough unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 5.8 m/s at the hub against 3.87 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 739 kWh a year here against the turbine's 594, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 84¢/kWh, 3.1 times what AK pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 5.8 m/s instead of 3.87. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of AK
Kenai Peninsula Borough is the 2,157th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in AK is Aleutians West Census Area at 9.35 m/s, payback 9 years.
Month by month in Kenai Peninsula Borough
January is the strongest month here, at 4.90 m/s and about 1,010 kWh. June is the weakest, 2.62 m/s and 132 kWh, so the best month makes 7.7 times the worst. November to March brings in 67% of the year's output in Kenai Peninsula Borough.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4.90 m/s | 1,010 kWh | $276 |
| February | 4.60 m/s | 762 kWh | $208 |
| March | 4.32 m/s | 703 kWh | $192 |
| April | 3.66 m/s | 412 kWh | $113 |
| May | 3.06 m/s | 236 kWh | $64 |
| June | 2.62 m/s | 132 kWh | $36 |
| July | 2.76 m/s | 165 kWh | $45 |
| August | 3.04 m/s | 231 kWh | $63 |
| September | 3.61 m/s | 392 kWh | $107 |
| October | 4.14 m/s | 620 kWh | $169 |
| November | 4.81 m/s | 927 kWh | $253 |
| December | 4.90 m/s | 1,010 kWh | $276 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Kenai Peninsula Borough averages 3.33 m/s; at 50 m it is 4.15 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.137, typical of very open, smooth ground where height adds little. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 4,992 to 7,354 kWh a year, 47% 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 | 3.66 m/s | 4,992 kWh | 73 years |
| 30 m | 3.87 m/s | 5,939 kWh | 62 years |
| 40 m | 4.03 m/s | 6,704 kWh | 55 years |
| 50 m | 4.15 m/s | 7,354 kWh | 50 years |
Counties around Kenai Peninsula Borough
5 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Lake and Peninsula Borough, averages 6.45 m/s.
- Anchorage Municipality, AK: 3.5 m/s, 4,329 kWh, payback 85 years (117 mi)
- Matanuska-Susitna Borough, AK: 4.5 m/s, 9,339 kWh, payback 39 years (161 mi)
- Kodiak Island Borough, AK: 5.87 m/s, 18,742 kWh, payback 20 years (192 mi)
- Bristol Bay Borough, AK: 6.2 m/s, 21,187 kWh, payback 17 years (199 mi)
- Chugach Census Area, AK: 6.07 m/s, 20,223 kWh, payback 18 years (209 mi)
- Lake and Peninsula Borough, AK: 6.45 m/s, 23,038 kWh, payback 16 years (213 mi)
Sun versus wind in Kenai Peninsula Borough
Kenai Peninsula Borough gets 2.53 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 739 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 594. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 1.2 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.