Engineers replaced 100,000 old-fashioned central heating boilers with heat pumps in Dutch homes last year and expect this year to beat 120,000, according to research bureau Dutch New Energy Research.

Half of this year’s pumps will be fully electric and half will be hybrid heating systems, partly based on gas. A further 47,000 pumps will be placed this year in new homes, the bureau said.

The figures mean the government’s target of installing 125,000 heat pumps by 2024 will be beaten, despite fears that a shortage of equipment and technicians would have a serious impact.

From 2026 households will be required by law to install a hybrid pump when they replace their central heating boiler but some homes that are not suitable will be exempt.