Wind Turbine Payback in Kimball County, NE
Wind turbine payback in Kimball 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 Kimball County, NE averages 6.1 m/s (13.6 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 20,446 kWh a year, worth $2,642 at NE's 12.92¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 38 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Kimball County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Kimball County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 8.8 m/s at the hub against 6.1 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,352 kWh a year here against the turbine's 2,045, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 24¢/kWh, 1.9 times what NE pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 8.8 m/s instead of 6.1. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of NE
Kimball County is the 685th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in NE is Cherry County at 6.83 m/s, payback 30 years.
Month by month in Kimball County
January is the strongest month here, at 6.97 m/s and about 2,279 kWh. July is the weakest, 4.93 m/s and 1,024 kWh, so the best month makes 2.2 times the worst. November to March brings in 51% of the year's output in Kimball County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.97 m/s | 2,279 kWh | $294 |
| February | 6.69 m/s | 1,900 kWh | $245 |
| March | 6.71 m/s | 2,120 kWh | $274 |
| April | 6.65 m/s | 2,014 kWh | $260 |
| May | 5.79 m/s | 1,544 kWh | $199 |
| June | 5.39 m/s | 1,255 kWh | $162 |
| July | 4.93 m/s | 1,024 kWh | $132 |
| August | 5.00 m/s | 1,065 kWh | $138 |
| September | 5.47 m/s | 1,302 kWh | $168 |
| October | 6.26 m/s | 1,836 kWh | $237 |
| November | 6.58 m/s | 1,971 kWh | $255 |
| December | 6.78 m/s | 2,164 kWh | $280 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Kimball County averages 4.76 m/s; at 50 m it is 6.84 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 16,512 to 25,892 kWh a year, 57% 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 | 5.57 m/s | 16,512 kWh | 47 years |
| 30 m | 6.1 m/s | 20,426 kWh | 38 years |
| 40 m | 6.51 m/s | 23,444 kWh | 33 years |
| 50 m | 6.84 m/s | 25,892 kWh | 30 years |
Counties around Kimball County
5 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Laramie County, averages 6.76 m/s.
- Banner County, NE: 6.44 m/s, 22,964 kWh, payback 34 years (24 mi)
- Cheyenne County, NE: 6.17 m/s, 20,965 kWh, payback 37 years (36 mi)
- Scotts Bluff County, NE: 6.25 m/s, 21,558 kWh, payback 36 years (45 mi)
- Logan County, CO: 5.89 m/s, 18,890 kWh, payback 32 years (46 mi)
- Laramie County, WY: 6.76 m/s, 25,311 kWh, payback 28 years (50 mi)
- Morrill County, NE: 6.33 m/s, 22,151 kWh, payback 35 years (52 mi)
Sun versus wind in Kimball County
Kimball County gets 4.63 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,352 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 2,045. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 1.5 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.