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.
The cost of deploying 3 gigawatts of batteries on the grid by 2031 would add 58 to 68 cents per month to the average residential bill for Ameren customers in mostly downstate Illinois and 40 to 48 cents for Commonwealth Edison customers in the Chicago region, according to the IPA analysis. Jeremy Gorner, Chicago Tribune, 9 Jan. 2026 OpenAI intends to build and deploy at least 10 gigawatts of AI data centers with Nvidia’s systems. Queenie Wong, Los Angeles Times, 9 Jan. 2026 Meta announced Prometheus, which will be a 1-gigawatt cluster spanning across multiple data center buildings, in July. CBS News, 9 Jan. 2026 The firm is already planning an expansion of the Memphis complex, and recently purchased a third building in the area that will bring the company’s computing capacity to almost 2 gigawatts, Musk said late last year. Bloomberg, Mercury News, 9 Jan. 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 18 Jan. 2026.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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