Energy storage is regarded as a key factor to allow significant increase in the percentage of electricity generation from renewables. One of the most critical aspects related with energy storage is its economic feasibility, which intrinsically involves the analysis of the off-design conditions and the evaluation of the operating strategies using proper methodologies. This paper considers a promising system for mechanical energy storage constituted by a Compressed Air Energy Storage (CAES) integrated with a Hybrid Power Plant (HPP) and coupled with a wind farm. This system is modeled considering the South of Italy as the possible location. The HPP-CAES is simulated to operate on the Italian Power Exchange market, for one year, implementing suitable selling strategies. Cost analysis is performed using a thermoeconomic approach. Results show that reduced operating hours and large variations in the electricity production of the wind farm make the HPP-CAES cost-effective only when it is operated with the goal of solving local imbalances of the grid. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.