14.07.2026
The global heat pump market is already estimated at roughly USD 50 billion, and the technology is increasingly becoming part of a company’s integrated energy system — not simply an alternative to conventional heating.
Hanna Pozdniakova, Director of RSE Group Ukraine, analyzes global market trends, explains why heat pumps are being integrated with cogeneration, energy storage systems, and digital management, and discusses what this approach means for Ukrainian business amid decarbonization, energy efficiency, and the drive for greater energy resilience.
The global heat pump market is valued at roughly USD 50 billion. Over the past decade, global sales of this technology have more than doubled. This is no longer a local trend confined to individual countries, nor a narrow residential-heating niche. It is part of a broader energy transformation in which heat, cooling, electricity, demand management, and climate resilience are gradually converging into a single system.
This is exactly the logic reflected in the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) Energy Technology Perspectives 2026 report. The IEA lists heat pumps among the key clean energy technologies alongside solar power, batteries, electric vehicles, wind turbines, and other new energy technologies. According to the agency’s estimates, the combined market value of these technologies grew by an average of 20% per year over the past decade, reaching nearly USD 1.2 trillion in 2025.
For Ukraine, these figures matter not just as global statistics — they show the direction in which industry, infrastructure, and the commercial sector worldwide are moving: from isolated energy-saving measures toward comprehensive energy planning at the enterprise level.
A heat pump should no longer be viewed merely as an alternative to a gas boiler. In manufacturing, logistics, retail, agriculture, and municipal infrastructure, it can be part of a broader energy system. Such equipment can work alongside cogeneration, energy storage systems, recovery of surplus or low-grade heat, and digital consumption management.
This is a fundamental shift in approach. For businesses, simply replacing one energy source with another is no longer enough. What matters is understanding how the entire energy system of a facility works: where losses occur, how heat is used, when cooling is needed, whether surplus energy can be reused, and how to ensure process stability and predictable economics.
The European market confirms this shift as well. According to the IEA’s Global Energy Review 2026, heat pump sales in Europe rose by 11% in 2025 after several difficult years for the market. In Germany, heat pumps outsold gas boilers for the first time, and according to Euronews, in 2025 they accounted for nearly half of all new heating systems installed in the country. Le Monde has also reported on the French heat pump market’s attempts to return to growth amid gas prices and electrification policy.
But it’s important to look beyond European sales statistics alone. In parallel, the very nature of demand for energy solutions is changing. Heat pumps are gaining importance not only for their ability to reduce gas consumption, but also for their ability to work in two directions — providing both heating and cooling.
This is especially relevant against the backdrop of heat waves, which Europe is experiencing with increasing frequency and which are increasingly affecting Ukraine as well. Reuters noted in July 2026 that heat in Europe has become not just a climate or social challenge but an economic factor — affecting productivity, transport, energy infrastructure, and business operations.
For manufacturing, logistics, retail, agriculture, or municipal facilities, cooling during heat waves is no longer a matter of comfort. It directly affects process continuity, product preservation, working conditions, equipment stability, and the overall resilience of a facility. That is why heat pumps and chillers need to be considered within a full-cycle logic: heat, cooling, economics, energy efficiency, and climate impact.
For Ukraine, this approach carries particular significance. After the massive challenges faced by the power system, Ukrainian businesses are evaluating investments in energy efficiency far more pragmatically. A solution shouldn’t simply “save money” — it needs to function as part of a system: reducing dependence on gas, integrating with other energy sources, ensuring the stability of technological processes, and giving a facility greater autonomy.
There is another important dimension: climate and regulatory. The shift to heat pumps allows for a gradual reduction in fossil fuel use, and consequently a reduction in CO₂ and other greenhouse gas emissions. This aligns with Europe’s course toward climate neutrality and is increasingly shaping the requirements for businesses that work with European partners or plan to enter EU markets.
For Ukrainian businesses, this is no longer an abstract “green” agenda item. It is a matter of competitiveness. European markets are increasingly evaluating not just the price of products, but also the energy efficiency of production, carbon footprint, compliance with environmental standards, and a company’s ability to operate within sustainable supply chains.
At the same time, a heat pump is not a universal solution that works equally well for everyone. Its effectiveness depends on the consumption profile, temperature regimes, sources of surplus heat, energy costs, the enterprise’s operating mode, and the possibility of integration into the facility’s overall energy system.
This is precisely why an engineering approach becomes key. It’s important to evaluate not just the cost of equipment, but the full life cycle of a solution: capital and operating costs, payback period, process stability, scalability, and integration with cogeneration, BESS, heat recovery systems, and digital management.
The $50 billion global market shows that heat pumps have already become part of a major energy transformation. But for Ukraine, the key question isn’t simply repeating the European experience. What matters is applying this technology within a broader logic from the outset — as a tool for energy efficiency, autonomy, cooling, decarbonization, and long-term business resilience.
The question is no longer whether heat pumps will be part of the energy future. The question is how quickly Ukrainian business will learn to use them not as standalone equipment, but as an element of a modern enterprise energy system.
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