Energy storage systems (ESS) are becoming an essential component of energy supply and demand matching. It is important yet complex to find preferable energy storage technologies for a specific application. In this paper, a decision support tool for energy storage selection is proposed; adopting a multi-objective optimization approach based on an augmented epsilon-constraint method, to account technical constraints, economic and environmental objectives. A series of case studies on the optimal selection of energy storage technology for the general grid-scale applications in centralized energy systems and rising applications related to distributed energy systems are carried out. The result of the matching between the selected technologies and applications for the general centralized energy systems is consistent with the one suggested in the literature and technology roadmaps. For the emerging distributed energy systems, flow batteries, hydrogen energy storage, and Powerwall 2 turned out to be optimal energy storage alternatives for the applications. (c) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.