This paper proposes a novel direct torque and reactive power control (DTC) for grid-connected doubly fed induction generators (DFIGs) in the wind power generation applications. The proposed DTC strategy employs a variable structure control (VSC) scheme to calculate the required rotor control voltage directly and to eliminate the instantaneous errors of active and reactive powers without involving any synchronous coordinate transformations, which essentially enhances the transient performance. Constant switching frequency is achieved as well by using space vector modulation (SVM), which eases the designs of power converter and ac harmonic filters. Simulated results on a 2 MW grid-connected DFIG system are presented and compared with those of the classic voltage-oriented vector control (VC) and traditional look-up-table (LUT) direct power control (DPC). The proposed VSC DTC maintains enhanced transient performance similar to the LUT DPC and keeps the steady-state harmonic spectra at the identical level as the VC strategy when the network is strictly balanced. Besides, the VSC DTC strategy is capable of fully eliminating the double-frequency pulsations in both the electromagnetic torque and the stator reactive power during network voltage unbalance. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.