In view of the control problems caused by the nonlinear characteristics existed in buck-boost converter of the flywheel energy storage system (FESS) in the discharging mode, a voltage current dual-loop control algorithm was proposed in this paper. Based on input-output linearization theory, an inner-loop-current control law was derived and its stability of internal dynamics was proved. Sliding mode control method with strong robusticity was used in the outer voltage loop, and a current-limiting segment was added to guarantee the security and stability of the discharging circuit. Simulation model was constructed in Matlab/Simulink platform, and the effectiveness of the algorithm was confirmed. Simulation results show that, in comparison to the dual-loop PI control method, the proposed algorithm can significantly improve the dynamic characteristics of the output voltage to keep constant with low ripple coefficient as the input voltage varying in a large range. © 2013 Chinese Society for Electrical Engineering.