Fire destroys turbine at Whitelee windfarm near Glasgow
Sept 2026Published 21 Sept 2026Responsible editor: Chief Editor
A day out at Whitelee costs about £83,503, at the site's own earnings over its last 26 settled days (wholesale at the market index price). A week out is about £584,521. A figure from the market, not a claim: what the site earned, averaged, is what each day out forgoes.
- Where
- Whitelee Windfarm near Glasgow
- Operator
- ScottishPower
- What
- one turbine caught fire
- Injuries
- None reported
- Cause
- not determined
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Companies named in the reporting of this entry (being named is not a finding of fault): ScottishPower
What happened
On the evening of Thursday 17 September, one of the 215 turbines at Whitelee Windfarm near Glasgow caught fire. Pictures shared with the reporting newspaper showed the turbine's charred head and blackened blades on the roughly 65-metre-tall hub, described as a burnt-out shell. Scottish Fire and Rescue Service was alerted at 22:49 and sent two fire appliances to the site in East Renfrewshire. Firefighters worked alongside ScottishPower representatives to make the area safe, leaving the scene at 01:17 the following morning.
ScottishPower, which operates the windfarm, said the affected turbine was taken out of service and a safety exclusion zone established around it in line with the company's safety procedures. The relevant authorities were notified. The rest of the windfarm, the UK's largest onshore site, continued to operate normally. No injuries were reported. An earlier fire at the site was reported in July 2025, when footage showed smoke coming from one of the turbines.
Contributing factors
The cause of the fire had not been determined at the time of reporting; ScottishPower said it was investigating.
Lessons learned
- A nacelle fire at 65 metres cannot be fought from the ground, so plans must rest on early detection and remote isolation.
- Repeat fire events at the same site warrant a wider review of turbine maintenance and fire detection.
More lessons on structural integrity and turbines, detection and monitoring, from every incident on the register.
Not yet known
- Turbine model and age
- Cost of the damage
- Duration of the exclusion zone
This entry is updated when these are reported. Get an alert for the next one like it.
Site page: Whitelee (status, dates and other incidents)
Other entries that name Whitelee
Other entries that name Glasgow
Published 2026-09-21. Written from public reporting. Descriptive, not investigative. See the data accuracy disclaimer.
