The virtual power plant（VPP），which has received much attention of the developed countries in Europe，is an effective management form of grid connection of distributed energy resources as well as an important component part of the smart grid.In the past ten or more years，the European Union/European countries have carried out many research and pilot projects on VPP.These projects not only have different emphases，but also constitute an integral system.Focusing on VFCPP，Power Matcher VPP，FENIX，EDISON and WEB2ENERGY projects，a description is made of European VPP-related research projects prior to their summation.The major problems of VPP which still need to be addressed are proposed.