At present, specialists of foreign and domestic research organizations and industrial firms pay much attention to the use of steam compression heat pump plants (HPP) as an energy-saving technology. Modern compressor units allow receiving 3-4 kW for 1 kW of power consumed by HPP, and under certain conditions up to 5-6 kW of useful power. Today HPPs are most used in heat supply systems for residential and office buildings, especially in Scandinavia, Germany, Switzerland, USA, Japan, China. The paper discusses features of the operation of steam compressor heat pump plants as systems for improving energy efficiency with a description of the device of a heat pump plant; its main components are also listed. Review of the existing practice of introducing such systems in foreign countries is presented, including in Minsk - the Minsk metro, and in Russia - the Moscow Metro. The project, performed by specialists of JSC “VNIIZhT” and MIIT, is considered for the Moscow Metro (with reference to the heating systems of the Nagatinskaya and Pushkinskaya metro stations) for the use of dumping heat of ventilation shafts for heating and hot water supply, proposed by scientists of JSC “VNIIZhT” in 2012 within the framework of the exhibition of technical achievements. Authors presented information on the implementation of the pilot project at the station “Salar’yevo” (Moscow Metro) on the use of HPP in the heat and cooling supply system of the station for further comprehensive analysis of the effectiveness of the HPP application in the operating conditions of the metro. From the analysis of the data given in the work, it is concluded that metro systems are significant sources of low-potential heat, which can be used for the heat supply of stations and/or nearby urban sites by means of HPP. By now, there is a lot of experience (especially abroad) of the practical application of HPP in the heat supply systems of facilities. Nevertheless, for a reliable and comprehensive assessment of the feasibility and cost-effectiveness of projects using low-potential heat of metro systems as an energy-saving technology, a complex of studies is needed, including operational tests of currently implemented pilot projects.