InstelStore finds U.S. wind turbine blade repairs exceed $1 billion in 2025

More than $255.7 million in repairs are being undertaken this year due to lightning damage, with blade root failure in close second, suggesting needed innovation in more resilient materials, or a method for in situ repairs.

As recently reported by market research and business strategy consulting firm InstelStore (Houston, Texas, U.S.), in 2025 the industry is poised to spend more than $2.92 billion on wind turbine repairs in the U.S. Blades contribute the most at 37%, and now total more than $1 billion in annual cost. Within that category, lightning damage is the largest cost center, with more than $255.7 million in repairs being undertaken in 2025. This is expected to escalate to more than $333 million by the end of 2034.

Blade root failures are now the second most expensive repair for wind turbines, with more than $222.3 million in annual costs, InstelStore finds. Root insert separation is a well-known issue on certain makes and models of wind turbines, and is contributing to the cost spike for blades due to the requirement to call out a large crane for safety to remove and replace a blade with such damage.

Pitch bearing repairs are the next most expensive category, with more than $190.9 million. Despite the fact that up-tower repairs can be made with segmented components, some machines do not have a crane-less solution for certain repairs, particularly when a full bearing swap is required.

Making pitch bearings repairs, as well as yaw bearing or any gearbox and generator repairs fully in situ, is one of IntelStor’s top 30 onshore wind technology trends. As for the generators, the consistency of bearings failures — brought on in part by stray currents — has resulted in an escalation in costs over the years for this category of repairs, a total of $190.6 million.

Yaw bearing repairs, including slewing ring replacements, constitute more than 10% of total annual repair costs. As noted before, the need for a full crane call-out to lift the nacelle to perform repairs or remove bearings to the ground, continues to make turbine repairs expensive overall, and the yaw systems in particular are still a significant expense.

IntelStore notes that turbines with a nameplate capacity of 1-2 megawatts (MW) are no longer the largest contributor to the overall repair cost breakdown at 33.1%. Rather, it is 2-3-MW turbines, which are now 52.5% of the total annual expenditure. Based on 2025 installed base data, for 1-2-MW turbines, lightning damage is the number one issue, while 2-3-MW class blades primarily have issues with root insert failures. 

While IntelStore expects lightning damage to overtake root issues in the coming years for 2-3-MW wind turbines, this still underscores how impactful any repairs which necessitate significant downtime or require a crane call-out can be for an asset owner.