Ground source electrical heat pump (GSEHP) and ground source absorption heat pump (GSAHP) have opposite characteristics on thermal imbalance and primary energy efficiency (PEE) in cold regions: (1) GSEHP leads to cold accumulation while GSAHP may cause heat accumulation in the warmer part of cold regions; (2) GSEHP has higher PEEs in cooling mode while GSAHP has higher PEEs in heating mode. The hybrid GSAHP-GSEHP is proposed to counteract the disadvantages and combine the advantages. Different combinations of heating and cooling supply ratios contributed by GSAHP in a hybrid GSAHP-GSEHP can maintain good thermal balance with soil temperature variations within 0.2 degrees C/year. The influence of supply ratios on thermal imbalance ratio (IR), annual primary energy efficiency (APEE) and economy are investigated to select some preferred configurations of GSAHP-GSEHP, which will be modeled and dynamically simulated over 20 years. Results show that a bigger heating supply ratio of GSAHP and a more negative IR contribute to higher APEEs and fewer boreholes within acceptable IRs of +/- 20%. Compared with GSEHP, the APEE enhancement is 10.9-34.6%, the energy saving rate is 9.8-25.7%, the lifecycle cost (coal) reduction is 3.7-22.0%, and the lifecycle cost (gas) reduction is 4.1-12.1%. The GSAHP-GSEHP maintains good soil balance with high PEEs in cold regions. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.