Blades fall from Wind Turbine at Aviva’s Perth Site

The blades of a 77-metre (253ft) wind turbine in Perth have crashed to the ground less than a year after the structure became operational.

The incident took place in the early hours of Friday at Aviva’s Pitheavlis site, where the insurance and investment company installed the turbine in November 2024. The project was officially opened by Aviva group chief executive Amanda Blanc alongside First Minister John Swinney.

Aviva confirmed that its on-site security team detected the fault shortly before 1am. The company said an “engineering fault” appeared to be to blame.

“Thankfully no-one was injured in the incident, and of course safety remains our top priority,” an Aviva spokesperson said. “As part of the repair and recovery operation, the wind turbine tower will be taken down in the near future, likely over this weekend, weather permitting. This will enable us to expedite our investigation into what went wrong and start developing a plan to restore the turbine to full operation as quickly as possible.”

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service dispatched one appliance to the site around 2am. A spokesperson confirmed there was no smoke or fire, and crews ensured the area was made safe before leaving.

Scottish Conservative MSP Murdo Fraser described the collapse as “unbelievable.” He said: “I have had many local residents raise concerns with me about the visual impact of the turbine which dominates the area, and now this happens. Fortunately, there were no casualties, but it could have been much worse. There is a real danger to people and wildlife.

“It is private land, and people shouldn’t be there, but there is risk of children wandering in at night. We need an urgent inquiry into this shocking incident.”