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.
Blue Owl had been in talks with Oracle about funding a 1-gigawatt facility for OpenAI in Saline Township, Michigan, according to the Financial Times. Jaures Yip, CNBC, 17 Dec. 2025 Data center power demand is expected to rise five-fold over the next decade, Deloitteprojects; reaching 176 gigawatts, the same amount as Australia and the United Kingdom’s entire power grids combined. Eva Roytburg, Fortune, 16 Dec. 2025 The company already operates 300 megawatts there, with several gigawatts waiting to be greenlit, and aims to invest $30 billion in China by 2030. Manal Albarakati, semafor.com, 15 Dec. 2025 NextEra Energy and Google Cloud announced a significant expansion of their ongoing collaboration, creating a partnership designed to develop multiple gigawatt (GW)-scale data center campuses across the United States. Aman Tripathi, Interesting Engineering, 13 Dec. 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 23 Dec. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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