[KennyBlanken]

I have personally worked on a tens-of-kW-scale wind turbine which was directly connected to the grid and was fixed speed and blade angle. It's quite common at lower power ratings because the cost/complexity of pitch control isn't justifiable.

It wasn't much more complicated than a three phase electric motor bolted to high-angle-of-attack blades, connected to the grid via contactors controlled by a microcontroller and a grid-intertie monitor.