Heat pumps are among the leading easily deployable solutions for electrification, alongside renewable energy and electric vehicles. Used for thermal comfort in residential and commercial buildings, they also have a wide range of low to medium temperature applications in industry. And ongoing developments in high and very high temperatures are particularly promising.
Essentially, a heat pump captures energy from the external environment (air, ground, water), adjusts its temperature and then transfers it to the indoor environment. A distinction is mainly made between air-to-air, air-to-water and geothermal heat pumps. In residential and commercial sectors, heat pumps are mainly used for heating, air conditioning and domestic hot water (DHW). And in industry, they are also used to recover waste heat (e.g. capturing heat from furnaces, dryers and condensers).
Markets vary from country to country
As of early 2026, nearly 28 million heat pumps have been installed across Europe. The adoption rate varies from country from country (e.g. 632 HPs in operation per 1,000 households in Norway; 524 per 1,000 households in Finland, but only 19 in the United Kingdom). According to a study conducted by EHPA(1) in sixteen European countries, heat pump sales grew by an average of 10% in 2025, with strong growth in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Portugal. Depending on the country, sales face several obstacles such as electricity taxes and the lack of financial incentives or subsidies. This was particularly the case in France, which has revised its system and now links its incentives to environmental performance and production in Europe.
A boost from the EIB to governments
At the beginning of February, the European Investment Bank announced a €3 billion loan facility for EU governments to invest in heat pumps and other clean solutions under the second ETS(2) which will enter into force in 2028 (see carbon pricing for buildings and road transport). Countries will be able to help their citizens switch to heat pumps and then repay the EIB using revenues generated by carbon pricing.
Considerable potential for industry
Heat pumps are already a viable technological solution for medium-temperature industrial processes, reducing energy consumption and costs, and consequently GHG emissions. They can offer genuine operational flexibility (heating, cooling and DHW). They can be used to recover waste heat generated by these processes. And a large proportion of them achieve high coefficients of performance.
Soon to be the world’s largest industrial heat pump
MAN Energy is installing a 50 MW thermal industrial heat pump at BASF in Ludwigshafen From 2027, it will recover waste heat from the steam cracker’s cooling water and process gases, and it will be capable of producing up to 500,000 tonnes of steam per year, all with zero direct CO2 emissions.
Still a few areas to improve
Heat pump professionals are ready for a wider-scale deployment of industrial heat pumps, with the aim of moving beyond bespoke projects. Because not only do these solutions exist, but they are also largely manufactured in Europe.
Today, developments are primarily focussed on temperature limits. As seen above, industrial heat pumps are operational at low and medium temperatures: they can decarbonise most processes below 200°C (brewing, pasteurisation, drying, paper, pharmaceuticals, etc.). However, to support industries operating at higher temperatures (other food and beverage sectors, cosmetics, chemicals, plastics, etc.), ongoing developments are focussed on high or very high temperature heat pumps (e.g.: EDF R&D, Dalkia Froid Solutions, etc.).
Other areas to be addressed include the improvement of refrigerants: in particular, prioritising fluids with low Global Warming Potential (GWP) and with zero Ozone Depletion Potential (ODP). For example, the PEPR Spleen(3) Reheat Project aims to develop a vapour-compression heat pump capable of using carboxylic acid-based reactive refrigerants with low environmental impact to recover industrial waste heat and convert it into higher-grade heat of up to 200°C.
In addition, process integration, the development of hybrid systems with storage or renewable energies to limit peak electricity demand, or the integration of digital and predictive controls such as IoT sensors or optimisation algorithms are other ongoing areas of development.
A “sleeping giant”
For the EHPA, as industrial heat pumps simultaneously save energy, recover waste heat, stabilise the grid and strength energy security, they are the “sleeping giant” of the European energy transition.
In fact, Europe has production capacity of 8 million heat pumps per year, but has only produced 2.5 million heat pumps per year to date. If demand were sufficient, Europe’s 300 heat pump manufacturers could triple their production. The ongoing acceleration should contribute to this.
Numerous dedicated European projects
As proof of the growing awareness of the benefits of heat pumps for decarbonisation, Europe is supporting various ‘heat pump and industry’ projects: Exquisheat (food and beverage)*, Betted (dairy industry), Spirit (paper industry), Push2Heat (working on barriers and developing business models), Geoflex (geothermal energy for industry). The most recent, HP4Industry, launched at the end of January 2026, aims to “develop and validate heat pump solutions to help process industries reduce their fossil fuel consumption and GHG emissions while maintaining their competitiveness and developing adapted business models.”
*As part of Exquisheat, a solution installed in a drying facility in the dairy sector reduced CO2 emissions by 59% while keeping production stable and improving overall efficiency.
1) EHPA: European Heat Pump Association (https://ehpa.org/)
2) SEQE-UE: EU Emissions Trading System (or “carbon market”)
3) Priority Research Programme and Equipment “Supporting innovation to develop new widely decarbonised industrial processes”, as part of the ‘Industrial Decarbonisation’ national acceleration strategy under France 2030. The objective is to “prepare a range of cutting-edge technologies and solutions that will contribute to France’s climate commitments by 2050 and to strengthening national sovereignty over technologies dedicated to decarbonisation.”