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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.
Power demand from data centers alone is projected to reach 106 gigawatts in the next decade, according to a report from research firm BloombergNEF. Ella Nilsen, CNN Money, 4 Dec. 2025 The 13 gigawatts of data center requests that AEP views as a more accurate figure, for example, is equivalent to about a dozen large nuclear plants. Spencer Kimball, CNBC, 3 Dec. 2025 Two months after Nvidia and OpenAI unveiled their eye-popping plan to deploy at least 10 gigawatts of Nvidia systems—and up to $100 billion in investments—the chipmaker now admits the deal isn’t actually final. Eva Roytburg, Fortune, 2 Dec. 2025 In China, coal power approvals surged to their highest level since 2015, as provinces green-lit 114 gigawatts of new coal capacity in 2023 and continued to push projects in 2024. Newsweek Staff, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 Nov. 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 7 Dec. 2025.

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