Wind Turbine Payback in Klickitat County, WA
Wind turbine payback in Klickitat 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 Klickitat County, WA averages 4.88 m/s (10.9 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 11,734 kWh a year, worth $1,692 at WA's 14.42¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 59 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Klickitat County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Klickitat County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 8.1 m/s at the hub against 4.88 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,229 kWh a year here against the turbine's 1,173, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 43¢/kWh, 3.0 times what WA pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 8.1 m/s instead of 4.88. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of WA
Klickitat County is the 1,517th 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 Klickitat County
March is the strongest month here, at 5.26 m/s and about 1,218 kWh. September is the weakest, 4.52 m/s and 777 kWh, so the best month makes 1.6 times the worst. November to March brings in 46% of the year's output in Klickitat County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5.01 m/s | 1,071 kWh | $154 |
| February | 5.08 m/s | 1,005 kWh | $145 |
| March | 5.26 m/s | 1,218 kWh | $176 |
| April | 5.12 m/s | 1,097 kWh | $158 |
| May | 4.77 m/s | 935 kWh | $135 |
| June | 4.93 m/s | 992 kWh | $143 |
| July | 4.67 m/s | 882 kWh | $127 |
| August | 4.50 m/s | 793 kWh | $114 |
| September | 4.52 m/s | 777 kWh | $112 |
| October | 4.82 m/s | 965 kWh | $139 |
| November | 5.07 m/s | 1,071 kWh | $154 |
| December | 4.97 m/s | 1,045 kWh | $151 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Klickitat County averages 3.86 m/s; at 50 m it is 5.45 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.214, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 9,217 to 15,677 kWh a year, 70% 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 | 4.48 m/s | 9,217 kWh | 75 years |
| 30 m | 4.89 m/s | 11,771 kWh | 59 years |
| 40 m | 5.2 m/s | 13,878 kWh | 50 years |
| 50 m | 5.45 m/s | 15,677 kWh | 44 years |
Counties around Klickitat County
1 of the 6 closest counties is windier at turbine height; the windiest, Gilliam County, averages 5.48 m/s.
- Sherman County, OR: 4.8 m/s, 11,212 kWh, payback 58 years (33 mi)
- Yakima County, WA: 4.03 m/s, 6,729 kWh, payback over 100 years (41 mi)
- Gilliam County, OR: 5.48 m/s, 15,893 kWh, payback 41 years (42 mi)
- Hood River County, OR: 3.14 m/s, 3,034 kWh, payback over 100 years (49 mi)
- Wasco County, OR: 3.62 m/s, 4,820 kWh, payback over 100 years (52 mi)
- Skamania County, WA: 3.12 m/s, 2,970 kWh, payback over 100 years (57 mi)
Sun versus wind in Klickitat County
Klickitat County gets 4.21 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,229 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 1,173. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 1.0 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.