Wind Turbine Payback in Niobrara County, WY
Wind turbine payback in Niobrara 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 Niobrara County, WY averages 6.56 m/s (14.7 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 23,849 kWh a year, worth $3,341 at WY's 14.01¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 30 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Niobrara County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Niobrara County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 8.3 m/s at the hub against 6.56 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,296 kWh a year here against the turbine's 2,385, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 21¢/kWh, 1.5 times what WY pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 8.3 m/s instead of 6.56. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of WY
Niobrara County is the 139th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in WY is Albany County at 7.32 m/s, payback 24 years.
Month by month in Niobrara County
January is the strongest month here, at 7.75 m/s and about 2,733 kWh. July is the weakest, 5.35 m/s and 1,272 kWh, so the best month makes 2.1 times the worst. November to March brings in 51% of the year's output in Niobrara County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 7.75 m/s | 2,733 kWh | $383 |
| February | 7.18 m/s | 2,173 kWh | $304 |
| March | 6.89 m/s | 2,232 kWh | $313 |
| April | 6.62 m/s | 1,994 kWh | $279 |
| May | 6.11 m/s | 1,745 kWh | $244 |
| June | 5.77 m/s | 1,482 kWh | $208 |
| July | 5.35 m/s | 1,272 kWh | $178 |
| August | 5.50 m/s | 1,365 kWh | $191 |
| September | 5.93 m/s | 1,574 kWh | $221 |
| October | 6.69 m/s | 2,105 kWh | $295 |
| November | 7.28 m/s | 2,385 kWh | $334 |
| December | 7.66 m/s | 2,688 kWh | $377 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Niobrara County averages 5.19 m/s; at 50 m it is 7.32 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 19,827 to 29,299 kWh a year, 48% 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 | 6.02 m/s | 19,827 kWh | 36 years |
| 30 m | 6.56 m/s | 23,863 kWh | 30 years |
| 40 m | 6.98 m/s | 26,890 kWh | 27 years |
| 50 m | 7.32 m/s | 29,299 kWh | 24 years |
Counties around Niobrara County
1 of the 6 closest counties is windier at turbine height; the windiest, Converse County, averages 6.97 m/s.
- Fall River County, SD: 6.21 m/s, 21,262 kWh, payback 32 years (49 mi)
- Converse County, WY: 6.97 m/s, 26,828 kWh, payback 27 years (54 mi)
- Weston County, WY: 5.46 m/s, 15,749 kWh, payback 45 years (54 mi)
- Sioux County, NE: 6.51 m/s, 23,481 kWh, payback 33 years (55 mi)
- Custer County, SD: 5.58 m/s, 16,616 kWh, payback 41 years (66 mi)
- Goshen County, WY: 6.38 m/s, 22,521 kWh, payback 32 years (67 mi)
Sun versus wind in Niobrara County
Niobrara County gets 4.44 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,296 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 2,385. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 1.8 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.