gigawatt (GW)
1 gigawatt = 1.000000e+09 watts
What is gigawatt?
A gigawatt is a unit of power equal to one billion watts. It is used to express the total power output of national electricity grids, large power stations, and national energy policy targets.
Notes: Grid-scale power
Real-world uses
Gigawatts describe the generating capacity of entire national grids, large hydroelectric dams (Three Gorges Dam: ~22.5 GW), and the total installed solar or wind capacity of countries. Global electricity demand is often expressed in terawatts (1,000 GW). Energy policy discussions use GW to compare national ambitions.
History
Gigawatts entered common use in discussions of national and continental electricity systems during the 20th century. As installed generation capacity in large countries reached the gigawatt scale, this unit became standard for energy policy, grid planning, and international energy statistics.
Common mistakes
Confusing GW (power) with GWh (energy). A 22 GW dam running at full capacity for one hour generates 22 GWh of energy. Also, the pop-culture reference "1.21 gigawatts" from Back to the Future is frequently cited but would equal about 1,210 MW—a large power plant.
When is this conversion used?
Converting gigawatt to watt is useful in the power domain when comparing values across different measurement standards or applying formulas that require a specific unit.
How to convert gigawatt to watt
To convert gigawatt to watt, multiply the value by 1.000000e+09.
Conversion formula (from base unit)
x * 1e9
Measurement standards
The watt is the SI derived unit of power, defined as one joule per second (kg·m²/s³). Horsepower remains in widespread informal use, particularly in the automotive industry, but has no single universal definition across regions.
Did you know?
The human body at rest produces about 80 watts of power — roughly enough to keep an incandescent light bulb glowing. During intense exercise, a trained cyclist can sustain over 400 watts, and elite sprinters briefly exceed 2,000 watts.
| gigawatts | watts |
|---|---|
| 0.1 | 100,000,000 |
| 0.5 | 500,000,000 |
| 1 | 1.000000e+09 |
| 2 | 2.000000e+09 |
| 5 | 5.000000e+09 |
| 10 | 1.000000e+10 |
| 25 | 2.500000e+10 |
| 50 | 5.000000e+10 |
| 100 | 1.000000e+11 |
| 250 | 2.500000e+11 |
| 500 | 5.000000e+11 |
| 1,000 | 1.000000e+12 |
Common values
| gigawatts | watts | |
|---|---|---|
| LED light bulb | 1.000000e-08 gigawatts | 10 watts |
| Desktop computer | 3.000000e-07 gigawatts | 300 watts |
| Microwave oven | 0.000001 gigawatts | 1,000 watts |
| Small car engine | 0.000075 gigawatts | 75,000 watts |
| Wind turbine (large) | 0.003 gigawatts | 3,000,000 watts |
Full gigawatt conversion table
| Unit | Value | Factor |
|---|---|---|
| watt | 1 GW = 1.000000e+09 W | × 1.000000e+09 |
| kilowatt | 1 GW = 1,000,000 kW | × 1,000,000 |
| horsepower (mechanical) | 1 GW = 1,341,022.08959503 hp | × 1,341,022.08959503 |
| megawatt | 1 GW = 1,000 MW | × 1,000 |
| milliwatt | 1 GW = 1.000000e+12 mW | × 1.000000e+12 |
| microwatt | 1 GW = 1.000000e+15 µW | × 1.000000e+15 |
| BTU per hour | 1 GW = 3.412142e+09 BTU/h | × 3.412142e+09 |
| kilocalorie per hour | 1 GW = 859,845,227.8589853 kcal/h | × 859,845,227.8589853 |
| ton of refrigeration | 1 GW = 284,345.13626109 TR | × 284,345.13626109 |