This paper presents as application of discrete-time model predictive control (MPC) to control a utility scale wind turbine based on linearized models. The main objective of the controller is to allow the wind turbine to extract from the wind a prespecified desired amount of power according to the wind speed during the whole range of operation. A nonlinear model of a 225 kW wind turbine is considered; at each sampling instant, a linearized model of the corresponding operating point is computed and used to obtain the optimal control input by solving an infinite horizon MPC problem. The procedure is repeated in the subsequent samples to control the nonlinear model. This MPC scheme can guarantee the stability of the closed-loop system at the operating point and its neaighborhood and it demonstrates high control performance.