Heat Pump Day 2026: Heat pumps, industry, and expertise at the heart of the European supply chain

Heat Pump Day 2026 , celebrated on October 21 and coordinated by the European Heat Pump Association (EHPA), brought attention to the role of heat pumps not only in building climate control but also in industrial growth, innovation, and the creation of specialized expertise in Europe. This year's event involved approximately 60 partners and nearly 100 initiatives organized in various European countries.

The sector currently supports approximately 480,000 direct and indirect jobs in Europe , distributed along a supply chain that includes research, component production, manufacturing, design, installation, maintenance, and training. The continent also has over 300 production sites dedicated to heat pumps and components , confirming the industrial importance of technology in the electrification of heating and thermal processes.

For the HVAC/R sector, employment data is only part of the ongoing change. The spread of heat pumps is expanding the available applications, increasingly involving industrial processes, district heating networks, and high-temperature heat production —sectors in which heat recovery, refrigeration, and electrification can be designed in an increasingly integrated manner.

From homes to industrial processes: applications are increasing

Heat pumps are often associated with heating and cooling buildings, but the technology is also finding growing application in industry.

Higher-capacity systems can recover available low-temperature heat and raise it to levels that can be reused in production processes. The solutions available today can provide process heat, steam, or energy for drying up to approximately 200°C , expanding the number of potentially electrified industrial activities.

This development is particularly interesting for industrial refrigeration. A refrigeration system produces both cold and heat simultaneously: the latter can be recovered and recycled, preventing it from simply being dispersed into the environment.

Design can therefore evolve towards systems in which refrigeration, heat recovery and heat pump become parts of the same energy process , reducing the use of fossil fuel-fired generators for the production of hot water or process heat.

A European supply chain that requires increasingly specialized skills

The theme chosen for Heat Pump Day 2026 also places particular attention on the people behind the technology.

The supply chain includes a wide variety of professionals: designers, refrigeration engineers, installers, maintenance technicians, engineers, researchers, component manufacturers, and technicians specializing in regulation and control systems.

The evolution of heat pumps makes these skills increasingly complex. Industrial applications, in particular, require knowledge not only of the refrigeration cycle, but also of production process temperatures and profiles, the availability of waste heat, hydraulic and electrical integration, refrigerants used, and control systems .

Added to this is the transition to low-GWP and natural refrigerants, which introduces additional requirements in terms of design, safety and operator training.

The growth of technology will therefore also depend on the sector's ability to provide adequately trained professionals to design, install and maintain increasingly complex systems.

Innovation and European production become strategic factors

Heat Pump Day 2026 finally placed the emphasis on European industrial competitiveness.

Europe already has a significant manufacturing base: over 300 sites are dedicated to the production of heat pumps and components , and a significant share of the monoblock hydronic heat pumps sold on the continent are assembled in Europe.

The competitiveness of the supply chain will, however, depend on the ability to continue to innovate on components, refrigerants, compressors, exchangers, electronic control, and integration with the electrical system.

For the HVAC/R sector, the transformation is therefore broader than just sales growth. Heat pumps are becoming a cross-functional technology that connects heating, cooling, refrigeration, energy recovery, and industrial processes .

The message emerging from Heat Pump Day 2026 is precisely this: supporting the development of technology means working simultaneously on innovation, production, and the availability of skills. These three elements will also be crucial for expanding the use of heat pumps in the most complex industrial applications.