This paper presents and analyzes the operation strategy for an autonomous wind energy conversion system oriented to water pumping. It consists of a wind turbine with a Brushless Doubly-Fed Induction Generator (BDFIG), electrically coupled with a squirrel cage induction machine moving a centrifugal type water pump. Because of no brushes and slip rings, the BDFIG is suitable for autonomous systems, which often work in hard conditions. Additionally, the power flow on the BDFIG principal stator could be driven from a fractional power converter connected on the auxiliary stator winding. This Turbine-BDFIG and Motor-Pump configuration provides a high robustness and reliability, reducing the operational and maintenance costs. The operation strategy proposes, for wind speeds smaller than the rated, to maximize the volume of water pumped based on the optimization of the wind energy capture. To do that, a sliding mode control tracks the optimal turbine torque by means of a torque control. Meanwhile, for wind speeds greater than the rated, a pitch control keeps the water pump within the safe operation area by adjusting the speed and power of the turbine in their rated values. To assess and corroborate the proposed strategy, simulations with different wind profiles are made. (C) 2010 Professor T. Nejat Veziroglu. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.