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.
So on one hand, McKinsey estimates global demand for data center capacity at 19% to 22% increases each year from 2023 to 2030, for an over 300% increase in demand and something like 171 to 219 gigawatts a year of capacity. John Werner, Forbes.com, 12 Sep. 2025 The good news is that the United States added nearly 50 gigawatts of new power capacity in 2024, the highest amount in more than two decades. 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 12 Sep. 2025.

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