This paper provides a clear and concise review on the use of superconducting magnetic energy storage (SMES) systems for renewable energy applications with the attendant challenges and future research direction. A brief history of SMES and the operating principle has been presented. Also, the main components of SMES are discussed. A bibliographical software was used to analyse important keywords relating to SMES obtained from top 1240. This paper provides a clear and concise review on the use of superconducting magnetic energy storage (SMES) systems for renewable energy applications with the attendant challenges and future research direction. A brief history of SMES and the operating principle has been presented. Also, the main components of SMES are discussed. A bibliographical software was used to analyse important keywords relating to SMES obtained from top 1240 most relevant research on superconducting magnetic energy storage system that have been published in reputable journals in recent times. Comparison of SMES with other competitive energy storage technologies is presented in order to reveal the present status of SMES in relation to other viable energy storage systems. In addition, various research on the application of SMES for renewable energy applications are reviewed including control strategies and power electronic interfaces for SMES. Important technology road map and set targets for SMES development from year 2020 to 2050 are summarized. This paper also discusses important challenges facing the development and application of SMES and points out vital future research direction on the development and improvement of SMES systems for renewable energy applications. This work will be of significant interest and will provide important insights for researchers in the field of renewable energy and energy storage, utilities and government agencies.••Review of SMES for renewable energy applications has been carried out.••Bibliographical analysis of important keywords on SMES has been provided.••Published articles in the last 10 years on SMES categorized and presented.••Road map and set targets for SMES technology from 2020 to 2050 are summarized.••Challenges of SMES application and future research direction have been disc. Superconducting magnetic energy storageRenewable energyEnergy storage systemPower systemsRenewable energy utilization for electric power generation has attracted global interest in recent times,,. However, due to the intermittent nature of most mature renewable energy sources such as wind and solar, energy storage has become an important component of any sustainable and reliable renewable energy deployment. Several cutting edge research has been carried out on viable energy storage systems for renewable energy applications. Some of the most widely investigated renewable energy storage system include battery energy storage systems (BESS), pumped hydro energy storage (PHES), compressed air energy storage (CAES), flywheel, supercapacitors and superconducting magnetic energy storage (SMES) system. These energy storage technologies are at varying degrees of development, maturity and commercial deployment.One of the emerging energy storage technologies is the SMES. SMES operation is based on the concept of superconductivity of certain materials. Superconductivity is a phenomenon in which some materials when cooled below a specific critical temperature exhibit precisely zero electrical resistance and magnetic field dissipation. This phenomenon was discovered by a Dutch scientist named Heike Kamerlingh in 1911. Fig. 1 depicts a graph of electrical resistivity against temperature for superconductors. The graph shows how th. 2.1. Magnetized superconducting coilThe magnetized superconducting coil is the most essential component of the Superconductive Magnetic Energy Storage (SMES) System. Conductors made up of several tiny strands of niobium titanium(NbTi) alloy inserted in a copper substrate are used in winding majority of superconducting coils. The size of the coil is determined by the amount of energy to be stored and the coil geometry.2.2. The power conditioning system (PCS)The PCS serves as an interface between the superconductor magnet and the alternating current power system. There are three commonly used configurations available, which are thyristor-based PCS, voltage source converter (VSC)-based PCS and current source converter (CSC)-based PCS.PCS based on thyristors: The basic structure of a thyristor-based SMES system is shown in Fig. 2, which includes a Wye-Delta transformer, a superconducting coil and an ac/dc thyristor-driven bridge converter. The converter applies either positive or negative voltage to the superconducting coil. Charge and discharge are easily regulated by adjusting the delay angle that g.