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.
Unlike legacy plants, such as Westinghouse’s AP1000, which require large exclusion zones and gigawatt-scale builds, SMRs are designed for flexibility. Ken Silverstein, Forbes.com, 17 Sep. 2025 And the interconnection queue—the waiting line for power sources to get approval to connect to the grid—has swelled to 2,600 gigawatts, or twice the size of the current grid. Brian Deese, Foreign Affairs, 9 Sep. 2025 The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) has entered into an agreement with ENTRA1 Energy to develop up to 6 gigawatts (GW) of new nuclear power. Aman Tripathi, Interesting Engineering, 5 Sep. 2025 On Monday, Bloomberg reported that ChatGPT-maker OpenAI was looking for local partners to build a data center in India with at least 1-gigawatt capacity. Priyanka Salve, CNBC, 4 Sep. 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 22 Sep. 2025.

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