America’s energy future is taking shape in Texas, and it looks like a wind turbine.

Texas is renowned as the center of the nation’s oil and gas industry, which along with abundant coal continues to supply the country with dependable energy. But the Lone Star State also leads the country and most of the world in wind energy, which is bringing clean, renewable power to homes, businesses and schools and creating jobs across the state.

With 10,135 megawatts of wind energy online, Texas has installed more wind power than any other state, according to the American Wind Energy Association. Only four countries have installed more.

A Favorable Regulatory Environment

Being a leader in wind technology comes naturally for Texas, given the state’s long experience with the energy industry, says David L. Miller, vice chancellor for technology commercialization and research at the Texas Tech University System.  

“Texas isn’t a leader in wind because oil is bad, because gas is bad or because coal is bad,” Miller says.

In fact, it’s the experience in promoting and regulating the production of those fuels that created the opportunity for growth of the 21st century wind industry.

“Texas is a leader in renewable energy because we had the regulatory environment and the transmission infrastructure in place,” he says.

Ideas on the drawing board quickly become operating wind farms, and the electricity generated there easily finds its way to light switches across the state.

Today, Texas is home to the world’s largest wind farm, the Roscoe Wind Farm west of Dallas, which produces 781 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 230,000 homes. Its 627 towers cover an area the size of Manhattan. In fact, five of the 10 largest wind farms in the United States are in Texas – Roscoe, the 736-megawatt Horse Hollow Wind Energy Center, the 662- megawatt Capricorn Ridge Wind Farm, the 585- megawatt Sweetwater Wind Farm and the 524- megawatt Buffalo Gap Wind Farm.

Benefits From Offshore Oil, Gas

More wind power is on the way, including the 300- megawatt Coastal Point offshore wind project near Galveston, which represents a $720 million investment and capitalizes on the company’s long association with the offshore oil and gas industry. The project’s Gulf Coast location gives it another advantage. It is at the hub of the U.S. offshore oil and gas platform construction industry, which Coastal Point has put to work building its own offshore wind towers.

The wind industry does more than create power; it creates jobs.

In May 2010, Alstom announced a new wind turbine manufacturing facility in Amarillo. Once operational, the plant will produce wind turbine nacelles, which include the generator, gearbox and control system that convert the rotational motion of the blades into energy. The 115,000-square-foot facility also is expected to create 275 full-time engineering, production and technical support jobs

In San Angelo, Martifer-Hirschfeld Energy Systems LLC is initially hiring about 125 new workers to staff its wind tower production plant. This joint venture brings together the expertise of Portugal-based Martifer Group in the manufacturing of wind power components and the local experience in infrastructure fabrication of San Angelo-based Hirschfeld Industries.   

“We have reached an important milestone with the award of orders from multiple global wind turbine manufacturers,” says Richard Phillips, president of Hirschfeld Industries. “And we are pleased to bring the combination of proven European norms and production capabilities to the U.S. wind energy market.”

Relationships such as the one between Martifer and Hirschfeld are one reason the Texas industry leads the country and most of the world.

“You’ve quickly had commercial partners begin planning production,” Miller says.

Public-Private Partnerships

The wind industry is also being nurtured by public-private partnerships such as the National Institute for Renewable Energy, formed by the Texas Tech University System and the Innovate Texas Foundation to solve key scientific challenges facing the industry.

One of NIRE’s partners is the National Wind Research Center at Texas Tech University. Gov. Rick Perry committed $8.4 million in research superiority investment funding through the Texas Emerging Technology fund, and private businesses have provided substantial funding.

“We need all the energy we can get, and wind will play a large role. The more energy we produce from domestic sources, the more secure our nation is,” Miller says.