Safety incidents, near-misses and operational failures involving wind (onshore) assets, with lessons learned.
Wind turbine fires and failures: the counts, the latest entries and free alerts
Where the reporting mentions a part, blade is mentioned most often: in 123 of the 346 entries, then tower or foundation (61) and nacelle, gearbox or generator (55). In 143 entries the reporting mentions none of these parts. A mention is not a finding of fault.
| Part mentioned | Entries | |
|---|---|---|
| Blade | 123 | |
| Tower or foundation | 61 | |
| Nacelle, gearbox or generator | 55 | |
| Vessel, crane or lifting | 40 | |
| Transformer or electrical system | 13 | |
| Not stated | 143 |
Component and mode: 39 wind records on the register have an approved record with a controlled component and mode, and 19 of those have no mode established in any public source. The component and mode of each record are in the paid record; these are the counts.
| Component | Records | Mode, where established |
|---|---|---|
| Blade | 13 | external event 2, mechanical failure 2, human or procedural 2 |
| Nacelle or gearbox | 9 | electrical fault 2, mechanical failure 1, human or procedural 1 |
| Tower or foundation | 5 | external event 3, mechanical failure 1 |
| Other part | 1 | human or procedural 1 |
| Structure or building | 1 | mechanical failure 1 |
| Switchgear or breaker | 1 | not determined |
| Not stated | 9 | human or procedural 2, external event 2 |
Where the reporting mentions a part, blade is mentioned most often: in 123 of the 346 entries, then tower or foundation (61) and nacelle, gearbox or generator (55). In 143 entries the reporting mentions none of these parts. A mention is not a finding of fault. Component and mode: 39 wind records on the register have an approved record with a controlled component and mode, and 19 of those have no mode established in any public source. Each entry says what its sources established and nothing more.
119 of the 346 wind entries are fires or thermal events. 180 mechanical, 119 thermal / fire, 29 other, 14 electrical, 1 near-miss, 1 commissioning, 1 control system, 1 gas release across the whole set. Where a fire service, regulator or operator stated a cause, the entry carries it and says who said it; where none did, the entry says so.
346 entries from 37 countries, 2000 to 2026, 88 of them classed as major. Every entry is written from published reporting with its sources and is free to read.
305 published entries. Newest first. Search and filter these in the register.
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Newest incident first. Search them, or narrow them by country, year or severity. Each entry is free to read, with what happened and its sources; the record behind it adds the cause where it is established, the part that failed, the downtime and the loss.
On the evening of Sunday 1 November 2026, a fire was reported in one unit of the Boulenouar wind farm in the Dakhlet Nouadhibou region, in the hinterland of Nouadhibou, Mauritania. The source places the fire at an installation in the Souweissiya area near the...
A fire broke out in a wind turbine at Yenidoğan neighbourhood, on the Söke-Milas road in Söke district, Aydın province, Türkiye, according to a local news report published on 31 October 2026. The turbine belongs to an energy company, which the report does not...
On the evening of Friday 30 October 2026, a fire broke out at the top of a wind turbine at the La Chapelle-Gaudin wind farm in Argentonnay, Deux-Sèvres, France. Local media reported an orange fireball and a plume of smoke. Firefighters from the Deux-Sèvres...
The record behind each entry: the manufacturer, integrator and operator, root cause, failure mode, downtime, losses and every source.
On the 24th (the source gives the day only; October 2026 is inferred from the report date), a fire broke out near the base of the blades on Unit 2 of the Tohaku Wind Power Plant in Kotoura, Tottori Prefecture, Japan. The fire started close to the area where...
A wind turbine at the High Prairie Renewable Energy Center collapsed just off Route A, west of Willmathsville in Adair County, Missouri, early on a Saturday morning. Residents reported hearing two loud noises between 4 and 4:30 a.m. The Adair County Sheriff's...
In the night to Sunday, which local reporting gives as 25 October 2026, a wind turbine collapsed and fell onto two fields in Weeze, in the Kreis Kleve district of Germany, according to a local report by NRZ. The report says that much about the incident...
On Monday 19 October 2026, at about 7.13 am, the Highmore Volunteer Fire Department responded to a fire at a wind turbine 10 miles south of Highmore, South Dakota. Dispatch confirmed before crews arrived that all workers were accounted for and that no one was...
Chile's Investigations Police (PDI) and prosecutors are investigating damage at the Cancura wind farm, in the rural area of Angol in the La Araucanía region, as a suspected arson attack. According to the report, one or more people may have entered the site on...
Overnight, reported by police on 16 October 2026, the trailer of a heavy-load transporter left a gravel forest track near the Hohe Molmert wind park, near Plettenberg in the Märkischer Kreis, Germany. The trailer was carrying a wind turbine blade weighing...
A wind turbine at the La Rumorosa wind farm in Tecate municipality, Baja California, Mexico, was reported on fire on Tuesday 13 October 2026. Local media reported that the emergency became known that morning. The turbine is reported to belong to the...
On 12 October 2026, Willacy County Sheriff's Office deputies and the Sebastian Fire Department responded to a reported fire at a wind turbine near FM 2099 and FM 1018 in Willacy County, Texas. Authorities said emergency personnel were at the scene and urged...
A wind turbine at a wind farm on the Cruz de Hierro pass, in Aldeavieja, Ávila province, Castilla y León, caught fire on Monday 12 October 2026. Emergency calls to the 112 service reported the fire at about 11:08 local time. The incident prompted a response...
A man in his forties died after a fall while carrying out tasks inside a wind turbine on the Pohénégamook-Picard-Saint-Antonin-Wolastokuk (PPAW) construction site, in the chemin Champoux sector, on 27 September 2026. Emergency services attended and he was...
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...
On the evening of 21 August, a fire broke out at a wind turbine substation at a wind farm in Bradwell-on-Sea, Essex. Essex County Fire and Rescue Service confirmed firefighters were called at 7.50pm to a fire involving a wind turbine substation. Ten...
At about 14:00 on Sunday 5 July 2026, a rotor blade became detached from a wind turbine at the Waldhausen wind farm at Aalen-Waldhausen in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The blade fell to the ground directly beneath the turbine. Statkraft, which operates the...
A 25-year-old maintenance worker died after reportedly being pulled into the motor mechanism of a turbine blade while carrying out maintenance work at the 'Aria del Vento' wind farm in Mongrassano, in the province of Cosenza, Italy. The incident is reported...
A fire broke out at the top of a wind turbine tower at the Pubnico Point Wind Farm in West Pubnico, Nova Scotia, Canada, in the evening. By the time fire crews arrived, the nacelle, hub and blades were fully alight. Firefighters were unable to reach the...
On 31 July 2026, around midday, a wind turbine collapsed at the North Fork Ridge Wind Farm in Barton County, Missouri, operated by Liberty Utilities. Local residents reported hearing the structure come down. The turbine's base door had broken off and all...
On Sunday 14 June 2026, the nacelle of a wind turbine at Bönen, near the boundary with Hamm in North Rhine-Westphalia, caught fire at a height of about 95 metres. One of the turbine's 45-metre rotor blades also burned, and the cladding of the nacelle burned...
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