Abstract: With the fast development of smart grid incorporating renewable energy sources,the virtual power plant（VPP） is obtaining more and more attention from academics and industry in China and worldwide.The VPP breaks the boundaries between traditional physical power plants,as well as those between the supply and demand sides.By using the advanced technologies including network communications,intelligent sensing and metering,data processing and intelligent decision making,the VPP is expected to become the supporting framework for smart grid with large scale renewable energy integration.This paper summarized and presented the concepts,functional features,operation and control schemes and the implementations of VPP,including a detailed introduction of two demonstration projects of VPP in foreign countries.The prospects of VPP was analyzed and outlooked,especially the potential role of VPP in secure and efficient use of large-scale renewable energy sources in China.