The diligent folks at Scotland Against Spin (SAS) have updated their turbine incident data through Sept. 2026. Their latest summary is attached, and their detailed historical table (347 pages) is linked.
The SAS data indicate that the number of wind turbine incidents has risen sharply in recent years (see chart below). The increased number of turbines worldwide and the inclusion of SafetyOn data (from 2020 on) for UK onshore wind facilities contributed to the sharp increase. Nonetheless, the growing number of incidents is disconcerting, as is the absence of comprehensive industry and government summaries and reports.
SAS has records of 274 fatalities from 195 fatal incidents. 67 of those fatal incidents have been since 2016.
SAS acknowledges that their list, which is dependent on publicly available reports, is merely the “tip of the iceberg.” For example, their list does not include the June 2, 2025, Empire Wind project fatality.
Unsurprisingly, SAS data (table below) show that blade failure and fire are the most common incident types. We previously reported on a Windpower article suggesting an average of 3800 blade failures per year. Presumably, “routine” blade failures, are not classified as incidents.
| 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 as of 9/30 | |
| blade failure | 21 | 19 | 28 | 25 | 32 | 18 | 24 | 15 | 23 | 17 | 12 |
| fire | 28 | 26 | 27 | 25 | 25 | 21 | 19 | 17 | 23 | 16 | 15 |
A high priority for wind industry regulators in the US and internationally should be establishing a consistent wind energy incident reporting regime and making the data available to the public in a timely and organized manner.
