Wind Turbine Payback in Kidder County, ND
Wind turbine payback in Kidder 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 Kidder County, ND averages 6.51 m/s (14.6 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 23,481 kWh a year, worth $2,926 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 Kidder County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Kidder County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 9.1 m/s at the hub against 6.51 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,171 kWh a year here against the turbine's 2,348, 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 6.51. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of ND
Kidder County is the 193rd 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 Kidder County
October is the strongest month here, at 7.08 m/s and about 2,345 kWh. July is the weakest, 5.68 m/s and 1,471 kWh, so the best month makes 1.6 times the worst. November to March brings in 43% of the year's output in Kidder County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.68 m/s | 2,103 kWh | $262 |
| February | 6.35 m/s | 1,712 kWh | $213 |
| March | 6.75 m/s | 2,142 kWh | $267 |
| April | 6.93 m/s | 2,180 kWh | $272 |
| May | 6.79 m/s | 2,170 kWh | $270 |
| June | 6.17 m/s | 1,724 kWh | $215 |
| July | 5.68 m/s | 1,471 kWh | $183 |
| August | 5.81 m/s | 1,555 kWh | $194 |
| September | 6.56 m/s | 1,959 kWh | $244 |
| October | 7.08 m/s | 2,345 kWh | $292 |
| November | 6.80 m/s | 2,105 kWh | $262 |
| December | 6.57 m/s | 2,030 kWh | $253 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Kidder County averages 5.19 m/s; at 50 m it is 7.24 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.207, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 19,624 to 28,741 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 | 5.99 m/s | 19,624 kWh | 41 years |
| 30 m | 6.51 m/s | 23,507 kWh | 34 years |
| 40 m | 6.91 m/s | 26,420 kWh | 30 years |
| 50 m | 7.24 m/s | 28,741 kWh | 28 years |
Counties around Kidder County
5 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Logan County, averages 6.69 m/s.
- Logan County, ND: 6.69 m/s, 24,801 kWh, payback 32 years (34 mi)
- Burleigh County, ND: 6.43 m/s, 22,891 kWh, payback 35 years (35 mi)
- Stutsman County, ND: 6.55 m/s, 23,775 kWh, payback 34 years (37 mi)
- Wells County, ND: 6.53 m/s, 23,628 kWh, payback 34 years (44 mi)
- Emmons County, ND: 6.53 m/s, 23,628 kWh, payback 34 years (51 mi)
- Sheridan County, ND: 6.53 m/s, 23,628 kWh, payback 34 years (53 mi)
Sun versus wind in Kidder County
Kidder County gets 4.01 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,171 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 2,348. 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.