Energy / SSE declines to elaborate on fate of damaged turbine blade
SSE has refused to comment publicly on how it disposed of a damaged turbine blade at the Viking wind farm earlier this year.
A blade was damaged at the site, near Laxo, in October 2024, with complaints from the public about debris from the blade being blown around the area in the aftermath.
The damaged blade was finally replaced in March 2025, following a lengthy wait.
More turbine blades were seen being transported to the Viking site in recent weeks, which has led to questions about whether they are replacements for other potentially damaged blades.
However Viking developer SSE has refused to answer questions about the blades, saying only that they were related to “ongoing operational maintenance activities” at the wind farm.
Following a letter by Sustainable Shetland’s Frank Hay last week, which asked where the damaged turbine blade from March had now gone, Shetland News reached out to SSE again for comment.
The energy giant said it would not comment formally to our questions.
Instead, it said the blade was “safely removed” by Vestas “for sustainable processing”. It provided no further details about the disposal, or where the blade was taken.
Responding, Hay asked: “Just how stupid do they think we are?”
“It is blatantly obvious that a few blades are going to be replaced shortly,” he said.
“As I said in my letter, a bit more honesty from SSE would not go amiss.”
Hay said he believed as many as six turbine blades could have been delivered to Shetland, with one seen making its way north last Friday.
Hay said there was “considerable public concern about the disposal of the replaced turbine blades”, saying they were “not particularly environmentally friendly”.
Meanwhile the wind farm tracks have still not formally been made open to the public, with SSE saying there are still final construction activities ongoing.
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