HOUSTON – The world’s largest wind energy event drew 12,000 industry leaders to Houston this week.

And if one European company has its way, wind energy could be playing an even bigger part in the Bayou City.

“We decided the great state of Texas, and in particular Houston, should be the hub for our research and development here in the United States,” Ditley Engel, President and CEO of Vestas, said.

It seems a logical choice. Texas is the leading wind state in the U.S., accounting for 26 percent of the country’s wind energy.  That’s enough electricity to power 1,000,000 Texas homes.

“We have the technical expertise. We have a good cost of living here. We have the highest concentration of engineers in the Western Hemisphere,” Mayor Bill White said.

Vestas is a Danish company.  The turbines they manufacture are mammoth in scale.

Each windmill has three turbines measuring 131 feet in length.

In just three hours of operation, they’re capable of producing enough electricity for one family for an entire year.

It works out nicely, because Houston is also the region’s largest consumer of energy.

“We are acquiring 30 percent of that power through wind power and that’s cheaper for the taxpayers. I locked in on a good deal about a year and a half ago,” White said.

If Vestas succeeds, Houston’s status as the energy capitol of the world will grow to encompass renewable energy as well.