How to Use terawatt in a Sentence

terawatt

noun
  • For context, a terawatt is a thousand times bigger than a gigawatt.
    — Ella Nilsen, CNN, 6 Apr. 2022
  • On average, the amount of power used by humans is about 18 terawatts.
    — Chris Lee, Ars Technica, 14 Sep. 2019
  • That translates to a solar potential of over 10 terawatts.
    — IEEE Spectrum, 15 Aug. 2025
  • Put another way, one terawatt is also equivalent to one billion watts.
    — Courtney Linder, Popular Mechanics, 24 Sep. 2020
  • Terafab would eventually produce enough chips for 1 terawatt of compute each year.
    — Andrea Leinfelder, Houston Chronicle, 6 May 2026
  • The industry can save only two to three terawatt hours by using alternative fuels.
    — Georgi Kantchev, WSJ, 27 July 2022
  • In May, production rose 10% compared to the previous year to reach a record 27 terawatt hours.
    — William Mathis, Fortune, 3 June 2023
  • But, according to Bloomberg, the second terawatt of solar power capacity will be installed over the next four years as the world races to net zero.
    — Eamon Barrett, Fortune, 30 Mar. 2022
  • Every terawatt-hour of domestic renewable generation is a terawatt-hour that no adversary can weaponize.
    — David Frykman, Fortune, 25 Mar. 2026
  • The lingering winter weather means that there’s as much as 100 terawatt-hours of water left to melt, according to Nena.
    — Jesper Starn, Bloomberg.com, 11 May 2017
  • The world is going to need terawatt-hours of batteries across many applications, from mobile devices and electric vehicles to the grid and data centers.
    — Georgina Jedikovska, Interesting Engineering, 20 Jan. 2026
  • The researchers simulated the effects of around 79 terawatts of solar panels and 3 terawatts of wind turbines.
    — Avery Thompson, Popular Mechanics, 7 Sep. 2018
  • The endeavor aims to produce a huge amount of computing power each year — about 1 terawatt of capacity annually.
    — Bloomberg, Mercury News, 7 Apr. 2026
  • According to Techspot, data centers consume more than 205 terawatt hours of electricity per year.
    — Sanjoy Maity, Forbes, 17 Mar. 2023
  • Musk then suggested that the satellites could unleash 100 terawatts per year if even more satellites are launched from a Moon base built with a dedicated factory.
    — PC Magazine, 3 Nov. 2025
  • The project’s name comes from the fact that its overarching goal is to produce 1 terawatt (1 trillion watts) of AI computing capacity per year.
    — Rob Toews, Forbes.com, 22 June 2026
  • The eruptions released an amount of energy estimated to be between 140 and 260 terawatts (one terawatt is a trillion watts).
    — Keith Cooper, Space.com, 29 Jan. 2026
  • Using a high-repetition-rate terawatt laser, the equipment was set up next to a telecommunication tower that is one of Europe's structures most affected by lightning.
    — Julia Musto, Fox News, 17 Jan. 2023
  • Musk outlined a bold target of generating a terawatt—equivalent to one million megawatts—of compute capacity annually.
    — Jijo Malayil, Interesting Engineering, 22 Mar. 2026
  • The previous most energetic volcanic eruption seen on Io was about 80 terawatts, from a volcano called Surt in 2001.
    — Keith Cooper, Space.com, 29 Jan. 2026
  • Those include partnering to develop digital workflows and their joint-ownership in the Terafab facility that plans to produce a gigantic one terawatt a year in compute hardware.
    — Shawn Tully, Fortune, 20 June 2026
  • The Terafab project — which has a mind-boggling goal to supply 1 terawatt of annual computing capacity — is the latest ambitious undertaking by Musk.
    — Bloomberg, Mercury News, 16 Apr. 2026
  • For comparison, the Mount St Helens eruption in Washington state in 1980 had a power of 52 terawatts.
    — Keith Cooper, Space.com, 29 Jan. 2026
  • While Musk didn't disclose a timeframe for the project, Tesla's corporate account said in a social media post that the factory will ultimately manufacture 1 terawatt of chip output per year.
    — Aimee Picchi, CBS News, 23 Mar. 2026
  • However, with billions of daily interactions, these clicks accumulate into terawatt-hours of electricity use and thousands of tons of CO₂ emissions.
    — Dianne Plummer, Forbes.com, 28 Aug. 2025
  • The findings are relevant as data centers currently consume hundreds of terawatt-hours of electricity each year, with demand growing alongside the expansion of AI and cloud computing.
    — Aman Tripathi, Interesting Engineering, 4 Sep. 2025
  • Looking further ahead, Musk proposed establishing an industrial base on the Moon to unlock petawatt-scale computing—1,000 times greater than current terawatt ambitions.
    — Jijo Malayil, Interesting Engineering, 22 Mar. 2026
  • And powering the electrolyzers needed to make 300 million tons of hydrogen a year would require more than a terawatt of cheap renewable electricity, more than all the solar and wind power currently installed worldwide.
    — science.org, 23 Jan. 2025
  • At current growth rates, some new AI servers could soon gobble up more than 85 terawatt hours of electricity each year, researchers have estimated — more than some small nations’ annual energy consumption.
    — Emily Pandise, NBC News, 7 Mar. 2024
  • Global energy use of all types (including fuels) is about 18 terawatts today, so this is a scenario where all the fuel a growing world could want are made in the Sahara, and Africa's drinking water is probably desalinated, to boot.
    — Scott K. Johnson, Ars Technica, 8 Sep. 2018

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'terawatt.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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