megawatt

[ meg-uh-wot ]

noun

, Electricity.

1. a unit of power, equal to one million watts. : MW

megawatt

/ ˈmɛɡəˌwɒt /

noun

1. one million watts MW

megawatt

1. A unit of power: one million watts . A typical large electrical generating plant can produce a thousand megawatts of electricity .

Word History and Origins

Origin of megawatt¹

First recorded in 1895–1900; mega- + watt

Example Sentences

“The young Republicans may be looking at the cost per megawatt hour, and the young Democrats are looking at a different number: parts per million of CO2 in the atmosphere.”

From Los Angeles Times

The town also knew that those wind turbines on the campus made sense because they were big when they were built, like 1.65 megawatts each.

From Los Angeles Times

Executives at Avantus say the company is following development rules set by the state and Kern County as they construct the 2,300-acre project, which is planned to produce 530 megawatts of renewable energy.

From Los Angeles Times

In June, PG&E revealed it had received 26 applications for new data centers, including three that need at least 500 megawatts of power, 24 hours a day.

From Los Angeles Times

The planned 550-mile conduit would carry more than 3,500 megawatts of wind power to 3 million people.

From Seattle Times