Wind Turbine Payback in Scotts Bluff County, NE
Wind turbine payback in Scotts Bluff 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 Scotts Bluff County, NE averages 6.25 m/s (14 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 21,558 kWh a year, worth $2,785 at NE's 12.92¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 36 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Scotts Bluff County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Scotts Bluff County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 8.8 m/s at the hub against 6.25 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,352 kWh a year here against the turbine's 2,156, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 23¢/kWh, 1.8 times what NE pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 8.8 m/s instead of 6.25. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of NE
Scotts Bluff County is the 528th 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 Scotts Bluff County
January is the strongest month here, at 7.13 m/s and about 2,377 kWh. July is the weakest, 5.16 m/s and 1,155 kWh, so the best month makes 2.1 times the worst. November to March brings in 51% of the year's output in Scotts Bluff County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 7.13 m/s | 2,377 kWh | $307 |
| February | 6.87 m/s | 2,001 kWh | $259 |
| March | 6.73 m/s | 2,133 kWh | $276 |
| April | 6.61 m/s | 1,989 kWh | $257 |
| May | 5.94 m/s | 1,636 kWh | $211 |
| June | 5.53 m/s | 1,336 kWh | $173 |
| July | 5.16 m/s | 1,155 kWh | $149 |
| August | 5.19 m/s | 1,176 kWh | $152 |
| September | 5.65 m/s | 1,410 kWh | $182 |
| October | 6.38 m/s | 1,916 kWh | $248 |
| November | 6.79 m/s | 2,096 kWh | $271 |
| December | 7.04 m/s | 2,318 kWh | $299 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Scotts Bluff County averages 4.87 m/s; at 50 m it is 7.02 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.227, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 17,504 to 27,186 kWh a year, 55% 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 | 5.7 m/s | 17,504 kWh | 44 years |
| 30 m | 6.25 m/s | 21,569 kWh | 36 years |
| 40 m | 6.67 m/s | 24,679 kWh | 31 years |
| 50 m | 7.02 m/s | 27,186 kWh | 29 years |
Counties around Scotts Bluff County
5 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Sioux County, averages 6.51 m/s.
- Banner County, NE: 6.44 m/s, 22,964 kWh, payback 34 years (22 mi)
- Goshen County, WY: 6.38 m/s, 22,521 kWh, payback 32 years (37 mi)
- Morrill County, NE: 6.33 m/s, 22,151 kWh, payback 35 years (38 mi)
- Box Butte County, NE: 6.38 m/s, 22,521 kWh, payback 34 years (40 mi)
- Sioux County, NE: 6.51 m/s, 23,481 kWh, payback 33 years (43 mi)
- Kimball County, NE: 6.1 m/s, 20,446 kWh, payback 38 years (45 mi)
Sun versus wind in Scotts Bluff County
Scotts Bluff 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 2,156. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 1.6 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.