Collapsed wind turbine was not blown up by angry Victorian farmers, as claimed on social media

A Facebook post is stirring up opposition to wind power by falsely claiming a photo shows a turbine that was blown up by Victorian farmers.

The photo actually shows a wind turbine that collapsed in the US in June, 2022. 

The false claim appears in a July 18 Facebook post featuring an image of a badly damaged wind turbine.

“Farmers decide, enough is enough. Using explosives to drop the wind turbines on their properties across Central Victoria,” the post reads.

However, the image has nothing to do with Australia and there are no credible reports of wind turbines being intentionally sabotaged with explosives in Victoria.

A Google reverse image search reveals the image appeared in a June 2022 article by Oklahoma newspaper Enid News & Eagle.

The outlet reported the wind turbine had collapsed near the town of Ames in northwest Oklahoma.

A fire official said that a nearby homeowner heard a loud thud, looked over and saw the crumpled turbine, according to the article. 

Energy Source & Distribution, an Australian publication focused on the country’s electricity generation and transmission industry, also published the image and identified the specific location as the Maverick Wind Farm in Major County.

It is not clear what caused the turbine to collapse.

The Facebook post appears to have modified the image of the damaged Oklahoma wind turbine using artificial intelligence (AI). 

While the original image shows clear blue skies, the edited version in the Facebook post depicts overcast conditions.

The post also features an “AI content” label applied by Meta when its systems detect an image may have been created or altered using AI.

While there are no credible reports that Victorian farmers are blowing up wind turbines, there are reports of turbines in the state being damaged due to malfunction.

That includes one that experienced a snapped blade at Lal Lal Estate wind farm near Ballarat in May 2026 that locals initially reported as an “explosion”.

The owners of the Lal Lal turbine said the incident was the result of “a blade failure”. 

AAP FactCheck previously debunked claims that Victoria farmers faced $50,000 fines if they refused to have wind turbines installed on their private property.

Source: AAP