Wind Turbine Payback in Torrance County, NM
Wind turbine payback in Torrance 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 Torrance County, NM averages 6.4 m/s (14.3 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 22,669 kWh a year, worth $3,477 at NM's 15.34¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 29 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Torrance County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Torrance County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.8 m/s at the hub against 6.4 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,629 kWh a year here against the turbine's 2,267, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 22¢/kWh, 1.4 times what NM pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.8 m/s instead of 6.4. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of NM
Torrance County is the 322nd windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in NM is Union County at 6.75 m/s, payback 26 years.
Month by month in Torrance County
April is the strongest month here, at 7.59 m/s and about 2,560 kWh. August is the weakest, 4.46 m/s and 775 kWh, so the best month makes 3.3 times the worst. November to March brings in 52% of the year's output in Torrance County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 7.25 m/s | 2,448 kWh | $376 |
| February | 7.46 m/s | 2,320 kWh | $356 |
| March | 7.29 m/s | 2,470 kWh | $379 |
| April | 7.59 m/s | 2,560 kWh | $393 |
| May | 6.69 m/s | 2,107 kWh | $323 |
| June | 5.82 m/s | 1,509 kWh | $231 |
| July | 4.52 m/s | 802 kWh | $123 |
| August | 4.46 m/s | 775 kWh | $119 |
| September | 5.31 m/s | 1,207 kWh | $185 |
| October | 6.29 m/s | 1,856 kWh | $285 |
| November | 6.94 m/s | 2,188 kWh | $336 |
| December | 7.27 m/s | 2,459 kWh | $377 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Torrance County averages 4.99 m/s; at 50 m it is 7.18 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.226, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 18,499 to 28,320 kWh a year, 53% 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 | 5.84 m/s | 18,499 kWh | 35 years |
| 30 m | 6.4 m/s | 22,648 kWh | 29 years |
| 40 m | 6.83 m/s | 25,797 kWh | 25 years |
| 50 m | 7.18 m/s | 28,320 kWh | 23 years |
Counties around Torrance County
None of the 6 closest counties is windier than Torrance County.
- Valencia County, NM: 4.65 m/s, 10,257 kWh, payback 64 years (53 mi)
- Bernalillo County, NM: 4.45 m/s, 9,041 kWh, payback 72 years (56 mi)
- Lincoln County, NM: 5.12 m/s, 13,353 kWh, payback 49 years (62 mi)
- Santa Fe County, NM: 4.59 m/s, 9,885 kWh, payback 66 years (66 mi)
- Guadalupe County, NM: 6.34 m/s, 22,225 kWh, payback 29 years (66 mi)
- Socorro County, NM: 5.09 m/s, 13,146 kWh, payback 50 years (71 mi)
Sun versus wind in Torrance County
Torrance County gets 5.58 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,629 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 2,267. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 1.4 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.