Wind Turbine Payback in Towner County, ND
Wind turbine payback in Towner 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 Towner County, ND averages 6.36 m/s (14.2 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 22,373 kWh a year, worth $2,788 at ND's 12.46¢/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 Towner County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Towner County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 9.1 m/s at the hub against 6.36 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,130 kWh a year here against the turbine's 2,237, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 22¢/kWh, 1.8 times what ND pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 9.1 m/s instead of 6.36. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of ND
Towner County is the 393rd 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 Towner County
October is the strongest month here, at 6.86 m/s and about 2,208 kWh. July is the weakest, 5.60 m/s and 1,421 kWh, so the best month makes 1.6 times the worst. November to March brings in 42% of the year's output in Towner County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.40 m/s | 1,923 kWh | $240 |
| February | 6.21 m/s | 1,630 kWh | $203 |
| March | 6.64 m/s | 2,075 kWh | $259 |
| April | 6.88 m/s | 2,153 kWh | $268 |
| May | 6.75 m/s | 2,142 kWh | $267 |
| June | 6.12 m/s | 1,691 kWh | $211 |
| July | 5.60 m/s | 1,421 kWh | $177 |
| August | 5.69 m/s | 1,482 kWh | $185 |
| September | 6.35 m/s | 1,834 kWh | $229 |
| October | 6.86 m/s | 2,208 kWh | $275 |
| November | 6.61 m/s | 1,992 kWh | $248 |
| December | 6.24 m/s | 1,827 kWh | $228 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Towner County averages 5.07 m/s; at 50 m it is 7.07 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.207, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 18,584 to 27,542 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 | 5.85 m/s | 18,584 kWh | 43 years |
| 30 m | 6.36 m/s | 22,377 kWh | 36 years |
| 40 m | 6.75 m/s | 25,245 kWh | 32 years |
| 50 m | 7.07 m/s | 27,542 kWh | 29 years |
Counties around Towner County
5 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Cavalier County, averages 6.57 m/s.
- Rolette County, ND: 5.79 m/s, 18,153 kWh, payback 44 years (28 mi)
- Cavalier County, ND: 6.57 m/s, 23,922 kWh, payback 34 years (36 mi)
- Ramsey County, ND: 6.53 m/s, 23,628 kWh, payback 34 years (37 mi)
- Benson County, ND: 6.44 m/s, 22,964 kWh, payback 35 years (42 mi)
- Pierce County, ND: 6.39 m/s, 22,595 kWh, payback 36 years (45 mi)
- Eddy County, ND: 6.52 m/s, 23,554 kWh, payback 34 years (68 mi)
Sun versus wind in Towner County
Towner County gets 3.87 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,130 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 2,237. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 2.0 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.