With the recent advances in the field of applications which require a certain power level over a short period of timeand with the air-quality constraints which have become more stringent in the last few decades, the energy storagesystems (ESSs) have come to play a crucial role for the electric grid. Various aspects such as the historical evolutionof ESSs, technical characteristics, and applications for the ESSs are thoroughly addressed. Special emphasis is given tothe interaction between the smart grid (SG) and microcrogrids applications, on the one hand, and the ESSs, on the otherhand. Thus, the main goal of this work is to present the specialist and nonspecialist review of the most important ESSscurrently available on the market.