How to convert watts to gigawatts
Power Unit Converter
Convert between watts, kilowatts, megawatts, and gigawatts
Conversion Results
About Power Units
Watt (W)
The watt is the standard unit of power in the International System of Units (SI). It represents the rate of energy conversion or transfer and is defined as one joule per second.
Kilowatt (kW)
A kilowatt equals 1,000 watts. This unit is commonly used to measure household electricity consumption, appliances, and small motors. The average American home uses about 10,649 kWh per year.
Megawatt (MW)
A megawatt equals 1,000,000 watts. Megawatts are typically used to measure power output of large power plants, industrial machinery, and to quantify electricity distribution across grids.
Gigawatt (GW)
A gigawatt equals 1,000,000,000 watts. This unit is used for massive power production capacities, such as entire power plants, regional electricity consumption, or total generating capacity of countries.
Common Examples
Fun fact: In the movie "Back to the Future," Doc Brown's time machine required 1.21 gigawatts of power to operate!
1W = 10-9GW = 1/1000000000 GW
1GW = 109W = 1000000000 W
Watts to gigawatts conversion formula
The power in gigawatts P(GW) is equal to the power in watts P(W) divided by 109:
P(GW) = P(W) / 109
Example
Convert 5W to gigawatts:
P(GW) = 5W / 109 = 5×10-9GW
Watts to gigawatts conversion table
| Power (watts) | Power (gigawatts) |
|---|---|
| 0 W | 0 GW |
| 1000 W | 0.000001 GW |
| 10000 W | 0.00001 GW |
| 100000 W | 0.0001 GW |
| 1000000 W | 0.001 GW |
| 10000000 W | 0.01 GW |
| 100000000 W | 0.1 GW |
| 1000000000 W | 1 GW |
