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Distributed energy storage (DES) plays an important role in microgrid operation and control, as it can potentially improve local reliability and resilience, reduce operation cost, and mitigate challenges caused by high penetration renewable generation. However, to ensure an acceptable economic and technical performance, DES must be optimally sized and placed. This paper reviews the existing DES sizing methods for microgrid applications and presents a generic sizing method that enables microgrid planners to efficiently determine the optimal DES size, technology, and location. The proposed method takes into consideration the impact of DES operation on its lifetime to enhance the obtained results accuracy and practicality. The presented model can be used for both grid-tied (considering both grid-connected and islanded modes) and isolated microgrids.