Wind Turbine Payback in LaMoure County, ND
Wind turbine payback in LaMoure 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 LaMoure County, ND averages 6.61 m/s (14.8 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 24,216 kWh a year, worth $3,017 at ND's 12.46¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 33 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in LaMoure County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in LaMoure County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 9.1 m/s at the hub against 6.61 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,171 kWh a year here against the turbine's 2,422, 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 6.61. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of ND
LaMoure County is the 107th 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 LaMoure County
October is the strongest month here, at 7.20 m/s and about 2,417 kWh. July is the weakest, 5.65 m/s and 1,456 kWh, so the best month makes 1.7 times the worst. November to March brings in 44% of the year's output in LaMoure County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.87 m/s | 2,215 kWh | $276 |
| February | 6.60 m/s | 1,850 kWh | $231 |
| March | 6.77 m/s | 2,154 kWh | $268 |
| April | 6.98 m/s | 2,213 kWh | $276 |
| May | 6.83 m/s | 2,193 kWh | $273 |
| June | 6.20 m/s | 1,742 kWh | $217 |
| July | 5.65 m/s | 1,456 kWh | $181 |
| August | 5.79 m/s | 1,540 kWh | $192 |
| September | 6.67 m/s | 2,026 kWh | $252 |
| October | 7.20 m/s | 2,417 kWh | $301 |
| November | 6.93 m/s | 2,181 kWh | $272 |
| December | 6.75 m/s | 2,143 kWh | $267 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in LaMoure County averages 5.25 m/s; at 50 m it is 7.35 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.209, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 20,216 to 29,506 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 | 6.07 m/s | 20,216 kWh | 40 years |
| 30 m | 6.61 m/s | 24,184 kWh | 33 years |
| 40 m | 7.02 m/s | 27,151 kWh | 30 years |
| 50 m | 7.35 m/s | 29,506 kWh | 27 years |
Counties around LaMoure County
2 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Logan County, averages 6.69 m/s.
- Dickey County, ND: 6.5 m/s, 23,407 kWh, payback 34 years (25 mi)
- Barnes County, ND: 6.44 m/s, 22,964 kWh, payback 35 years (39 mi)
- Stutsman County, ND: 6.55 m/s, 23,775 kWh, payback 34 years (41 mi)
- Ransom County, ND: 6.28 m/s, 21,781 kWh, payback 37 years (42 mi)
- Logan County, ND: 6.69 m/s, 24,801 kWh, payback 32 years (47 mi)
- McIntosh County, ND: 6.65 m/s, 24,509 kWh, payback 33 years (49 mi)
Sun versus wind in LaMoure County
LaMoure 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 2,422. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 2.1 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.