A new study finds that Europe’s heat pump boom has avoided $11 billion (€9.7 billion) in import costs from the Middle East in the last year.
The continent’s heat pumps provide as much heat as liquified natural gas (LNG) carried by more than 200 tankers, according to the European Heat Pump Association’s analysis.
What’s happening?
A recent rise in heat pump sales across Europe is helping households cut back on expensive imported gas, according to Euronews.
The EHPA found that the heat output represented about twice the LNG that reached the EU from the Middle East in 2025.
The 2.9 million heat pumps added last year were enough by themselves to displace 2.5 billion cubic meters of LNG, or about 24% of the EU’s imports from the Middle East, Euronews reported. Overall, nearly 3 million units were sold across 21 European countries in 2025, bringing the installed total to 29.3 million.
France recorded the highest sales total in 2025, with 528,000 units, according to Euronews, while Germany logged the biggest year-over-year jump, with installations rising 50%.
Why does it matter?
Heat pumps heat and cool homes by moving energy from the air, ground, or water. Because they are far more efficient than many conventional systems, they can reduce monthly utility bills and soften the impact of sudden gas price spikes.
Lower dependence on imported fuel can also make households less exposed to supply shocks and geopolitical turmoil.
“Every heat pump installed is another bolt in the door of European energy security,” Paul Kenny of the European Heat Pump Association said, per Euronews. “LNG is the most expensive energy source and comes from unreliable suppliers, [but] heat pumps can drastically reduce our need for it. Indeed, Europeans are already turning away from fossil fuel heating as our new data shows.”
The strong uptake in Norway and Finland, relative to household numbers, underscores that heat pumps can work in colder climates too. Euronews noted that they can outperform electric heating even at minus 30 degrees Celsius.
What’s being done?
Many European countries already offer incentives for heat pumps, and England currently has a $9,899 USD (£7,500) grant for qualifying installations. Policymakers are also considering other ways to lower the cost of clean heating, including possible cuts to levies and VAT on electricity and green-heating technologies, Euronews reported.
In some countries, though, the politics remain contentious. After Germany dropped a proposed requirement to replace fossil-fuel boilers with climate-friendly alternatives in 2023, Greens’ parliamentary leader Katherina Droege called it “a complete abandonment of Germany’s climate targets.”
Kenny says Europe should make clean heating as “easy and affordable” as possible.
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