How many watts are in a gigawatt (GW)?

One gigawatt (GW) is defined as one billion watts. This is derived from the metric system where each prefix represents a power of ten. The prefix "giga-" signifies that it is (10^9), or 1,000,000,000. Therefore, when you convert gigawatts to watts, you multiply by one billion.

Understanding this conversion is crucial in energy and power discussions, especially in the context of electrical generation and consumption, where gigawatts are commonly used to express large amounts of power produced by power plants or consumed by cities. This understanding is essential for utility marketing representatives who need to analyze and communicate energy capacity, demand, and generation effectively.