Megawatts (MW)
The megawatt is a million watts, used for power stations, wind turbines, trains and data centers.
Convert megawatts to any power unit
1 megawatt = 1,000,000 watts
Quick facts
1 megawatt in other units
| Watts | 1,000,000 W |
| Kilowatts | 1,000 kW |
| Horsepower | 1,341.02209 hp |
| BTUs per hour | 3,412,141.633 BTU/h |
| Metric horsepower | 1,359.621617 PS |
| Tons of refrigeration | 284.3451361 TR |
| Gigawatts | 0.001 GW |
| Milliwatts | 1,000,000,000 mW |
What is a megawatt?
The megawatt is a million watts, used for power stations, wind turbines, trains and data centers.
Where the megawatt sits among power units
The megawatt is number 28 of 32 on our scale of power units, ordered from smallest to largest.
Megawatts in real life
- A modern onshore wind turbine is about 3–6 MW
- A high-speed train draws about 8–10 MW
- A large data center uses 50–100 MW
Top megawatt conversions
Common amounts of megawatts
- 0.25 MW
- 0.5 MW
- 0.75 MW
- 1 MW
- 1.5 MW
- 2 MW
- 2.5 MW
- 3 MW
- 4 MW
- 5 MW
- 6 MW
- 7 MW
- 8 MW
- 9 MW
- 10 MW
- 11 MW
- 12 MW
- 13 MW
- 14 MW
- 15 MW
- 16 MW
- 17 MW
- 18 MW
- 19 MW
- 20 MW
- 21 MW
- 22 MW
- 23 MW
- 24 MW
- 25 MW
- 26 MW
- 27 MW
- 28 MW
- 29 MW
- 30 MW
- 31 MW
- 32 MW
- 33 MW
- 34 MW
- 35 MW
- 36 MW
- 37 MW
- 38 MW
- 39 MW
- 40 MW
- 41 MW
- 42 MW
- 43 MW
- 44 MW
- 45 MW
- 46 MW
- 47 MW
- 48 MW
- 49 MW
- 50 MW
- 60 MW
- 70 MW
- 80 MW
- 90 MW
- 100 MW
- 150 MW
- 200 MW
- 250 MW
- 300 MW
- 400 MW
- 500 MW
- 750 MW
- 1,000 MW
Convert megawatts to all 31 other units
Metric (SI)
Horsepower
Heat & refrigeration
Mechanical & other
Convert to megawatts
Frequently asked questions
What is a megawatt?
The megawatt is a million watts, used for power stations, wind turbines, trains and data centers.
How is the megawatt defined?
1,000,000 watts.
How many watts are in a megawatt?
One megawatt equals 1,000,000 watts.
How many kilowatts are in a megawatt?
One megawatt equals 1,000 kilowatts.
How many horsepower are in a megawatt?
One megawatt equals 1,341.02209 horsepower.