Industrial heat pumps: the technology is ready – and the transition is happening.
That was the clear message that stood out at the High-Temperature Heat Pump Symposium 2026 in Copenhagen in January.
The event brought together a rapidly growing community of experts working on industrial heat, electrification and large-scale heat pump deployment. The strong turnout and full programme reflected a clear signal: interest in high-temperature heat pumps is accelerating across industry, policy and research.
The question is no longer whether high-temperature heat pumps can play a major role in industrial decarbonisation, but how quickly deployment can scale. Discussions repeatedly highlighted the role of politics and economics in creating the right conditions, with stable policy frameworks and access to affordable, clean electricity seen as critical to speeding up uptake.
Reflecting these discussions, EHPA Policy Director Jozefien Vanbecelaere summarised the symposium’s key messages in a short video from the event floor:
Beyond the headline messages, several themes stood out across the two days. As EHPA’s Policy Director put it in her video summary, “it’s all about integration now.” Europe’s strength lies not only in manufacturing, but in system integration, engineering and adapting solutions to real industrial processes – a major share of project value and a key advantage as supply chains become more global.
A holistic approach to deployment is therefore essential. Early involvement of end users, alignment with industrial equipment and processes, and cooperation across the value chain can turn individual projects into solutions that are repeatable at scale.
Flexibility is also moving up the agenda. The role of thermal and electrical storage, and how high-temperature heat pumps can support the power system, were widely discussed – with clear potential still to be unlocked in practice and in market design.
At the symposium, EHPA contributed to these discussions by participating in the sessions, engaging stakeholders onsite, and presenting EU-funded innovation projects on industrial heat pumps, including Push2Heat, BETTED, SPIRIT, EXQUISHEAT and GeoFlex. Together, these initiatives showcase how high-temperature heat pumps are moving from niche applications to a central role in industrial decarbonisation.
Presentations from the symposium will be available on the event website https://hthp-symposium.org/hthp-symposium-2026/.
