A heat wave melted turbine blades at a Texas wind farm.
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No, a heat wave did not melt a turbine blade at a Texas wind farm
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- Both the National Weather Service in Houston and a spokesman for the company that manages the wind farm shown in the Facebook post confirmed the blades were damaged by a storm, not excessive heat.
A Facebook post showing a wind turbine with collapsed blades is falsely claiming that the damage is a result of excessive heat.
"Current wave of heat melts a wind turbine' [sic] in Texas," the caption on the photo reads.
This is not true.
The same photo, which was also posted to the Twitter page of the National Weather Service in Houston, was taken at a wind farm in Matagorda County, according to the agency. The wilted-looking blades are a result of storm winds that passed through the area on June 14, NWS Houston said in the tweet.
The June 17 post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) The post and others like it come on the heels of a recent heat wave that has gripped Texas and other states across the southwest and southeast over the past week which has sent demand for electricity skyrocketing as air conditioning units in homes and businesses are being run day and night.
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What’s more, the company running the wind farm in the post — RWE Renewables — told Reuters in a statement that the damage was a result of storm damage and not excessive heat.
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"The damage to the turbine was definitely NOT related to heat or high temperatures," RWE spokesman Matt Tulis said in the statement.
The turbine shown in the Facebook post is one of 48 at the same wind farm operated by RWE, according to Reuters.
We rate the claim that heat melted the blades of this wind turbine as False.
Our Sources
Facebook post, June 17
National Weather Service Houston Twitter post, June 14
Reuters, Fact Check-Sizzling Texas heat did not melt wind turbine, June 21
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No, a heat wave did not melt a turbine blade at a Texas wind farm
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