This paper presents the analysis of the two usual control structures for variable speed and fixed pitch wind energy generation systems, namely speed and torque control, to determine the most appropriate structure to improve both robustness and reliability of this kind of distributed generators. The study considers all the elements of a typical wind power generation system and it has been carried out in a general way, so that conclusions are independent of the kind of the AC/DC converter that it is used to process the energy at the output of the generator. Particular emphasis was placed on developing a model of the turbine where the mechanical torque is considered as a system variable and not an exogenous disturbance for the system, as in other previous studies. After showing that speed control presents several advantages in terms of stability and reliability, an experimental study of this technique was carried out by using a grid connected wind generation system, which is composed by a three-phase boost rectifier feeding the grid connected inverter. Other practical issues for the design of high efficient wind generation systems, like the use of a Kalman speed estimator to avoid the need of mechanical sensors, are also implemented in the prototype and discussed in the paper. (c) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.