Wind Turbine Payback in McKenzie County, ND
Wind turbine payback in McKenzie 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 McKenzie County, ND averages 6.59 m/s (14.7 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 24,069 kWh a year, worth $2,999 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 McKenzie County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in McKenzie County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 9.1 m/s at the hub against 6.59 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,156 kWh a year here against the turbine's 2,407, 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 6.59. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of ND
McKenzie County is the 119th 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 McKenzie County
October is the strongest month here, at 7.04 m/s and about 2,324 kWh. July is the weakest, 5.80 m/s and 1,548 kWh, so the best month makes 1.5 times the worst. November to March brings in 44% of the year's output in McKenzie County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 7.01 m/s | 2,302 kWh | $287 |
| February | 6.39 m/s | 1,736 kWh | $216 |
| March | 6.82 m/s | 2,186 kWh | $272 |
| April | 6.85 m/s | 2,132 kWh | $266 |
| May | 6.63 m/s | 2,069 kWh | $258 |
| June | 6.22 m/s | 1,756 kWh | $219 |
| July | 5.80 m/s | 1,548 kWh | $193 |
| August | 5.89 m/s | 1,604 kWh | $200 |
| September | 6.49 m/s | 1,915 kWh | $239 |
| October | 7.04 m/s | 2,324 kWh | $290 |
| November | 7.04 m/s | 2,243 kWh | $279 |
| December | 6.88 m/s | 2,225 kWh | $277 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in McKenzie County averages 5.28 m/s; at 50 m it is 7.31 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.202, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 20,259 to 29,229 kWh a year, 44% 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 | 20,259 kWh | 40 years |
| 30 m | 6.59 m/s | 24,093 kWh | 33 years |
| 40 m | 6.99 m/s | 26,956 kWh | 30 years |
| 50 m | 7.31 m/s | 29,229 kWh | 28 years |
Counties around McKenzie County
2 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Billings County, averages 6.76 m/s.
- Williams County, ND: 6.33 m/s, 22,151 kWh, payback 36 years (43 mi)
- Dunn County, ND: 6.57 m/s, 23,922 kWh, payback 34 years (46 mi)
- Billings County, ND: 6.76 m/s, 25,311 kWh, payback 32 years (51 mi)
- Richland County, MT: 6.27 m/s, 21,706 kWh, payback 33 years (54 mi)
- Mountrail County, ND: 6.53 m/s, 23,628 kWh, payback 34 years (58 mi)
- Golden Valley County, ND: 6.68 m/s, 24,728 kWh, payback 33 years (59 mi)
Sun versus wind in McKenzie County
McKenzie County gets 3.96 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,156 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 2,407. 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.