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.
One gigawatt is equivalent to 1,000 megawatts, which can power roughly 750,000 to 1 million households. Morgan Chittum, CNBC, 2 July 2026 Right now, Europe has just one AI firm, Mistral, anywhere near the frontier — and only a fraction of the 25 gigawatts of AI compute that the US has. Tom Chivers, semafor.com, 1 July 2026 Globally, over 2,500 gigawatts of projects, including data centers, are stuck in grid connection queues. Güney Yıldız, Forbes.com, 30 June 2026 Reuters also reported that the current heatwave reduced French nuclear output by around 4 gigawatts, roughly seven percent of electricity demand at one point, as river temperatures climbed above operational thresholds. Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 26 June 2026 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 6 Jul. 2026.

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