gigawatt

noun

giga·​watt ˈji-gə-ˌwät How to pronounce gigawatt (audio) ˈgi- How to pronounce gigawatt (audio)
: a unit of power equal to one billion watts

Examples of gigawatt in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
But the devil is in the details: the data center alone would require three gigawatts to run—or the equivalent of three nuclear reactors—at a time when state energy company Korea Electric Power Corp. is already $141.5 billion in debt. Charlie Campbell, Time, 29 May 2025 According to the report, Microsoft used power purchase agreements to contract 19 gigawatts of new renewable energy in 2024 in 16 countries. Jeff Young, MSNBC Newsweek, 29 May 2025 Chinese domestic electricity production capacity from solar also continues to grow, boasting a 227 gigawatt increase in 2024. Ariel Cohen, Forbes.com, 29 May 2025 Power demand is growing so fast that, in the past year, NERC found America’s peak electricity needs grew by a staggering 10 gigawatts. Terry Jarrett, Boston Herald, 28 May 2025 See All Example Sentences for gigawatt

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1962, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of gigawatt was circa 1962

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Cite this Entry

“Gigawatt.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gigawatt. Accessed 5 Jun. 2025.

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