Techno-economic Evaluation of Ground Source Heat Pump Systems Versus Air-Source Heat Pump and Natural Gas Systems in the European Union

Heat pumps are increasingly recognized as a key technology for decarbonizing heating and cooling, while natural gas systems remain widely used in current building applications. In this context, this study presents a techno-economic comparison of ground source heat pump (GSHP), air-source heat pump (ASHP), and natural gas (NG) systems within an EU-focused framework. To enable a harmonized comparison, the European Union was represented through three comparative climate-zone categories (warm, temperate, and cold), while EU-average economic values were used in the analysis. The comparative assessment was based on life-cycle cost (LCC) and related economic indicators under standardized assumptions. Under the adopted baseline assumptions, in heating applications, the GSHP system offers a cost advantage of up to 36