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Gigawatt-hours to Kilojoules conversion

Gigawatt-hours to Kilojoules conversion table

Gigawatt-hours (GWh)Kilojoules (kJ)
00
13600000000
27200000000
310800000000
414400000000
518000000000
621600000000
725200000000
828800000000
932400000000
1036000000000
2072000000000
30108000000000
40144000000000
50180000000000
60216000000000
70252000000000
80288000000000
90324000000000
100360000000000
10003600000000000

How to convert gigawatt-hours to kilojoules?

Certainly! Let's first understand the conversion between gigawatt-hours (GWh) and kilojoules (kJ).

1 gigawatt-hour (GWh) is a unit of energy representing one billion watt-hours (Wh). To convert GWh to kilojoules (kJ), you need to use the following conversions:

  • 1 Wh = 3600 joules (J)
  • 1 kJ = 1000 joules (J)

Therefore, the conversion from GWh to kJ is as follows:

1 GWh = 1,000,000,000 Wh 1 Wh = 3600 J 1 GWh = 1,000,000,000 Wh * 3600 J/Wh 1 GWh = 3,600,000,000,000 J 1 GWh = 3.6 x 10^12 J

Since 1 kJ = 1000 J: 1 GWh = 3.6 x 10^12 J / 1000 J/kJ 1 GWh = 3.6 x 10^9 kJ

So, 1 GWh is equal to 3.6 billion kilojoules (kJ).

Real-World Examples of Gigawatt-Hours

  1. Large Power Plant Output: A typical large-scale power plant, such as a nuclear or coal-fired plant, can output several gigawatt-hours of electricity in a single day. For instance, a nuclear plant might generate around 1 GWh of electricity in just over an hour, given that many nuclear plants have capacities around 1 GW.

  2. City Electricity Consumption: A medium-sized city might consume somewhere around 10-50 GWh of electricity in a day. For example, the city of San Francisco's daily electricity consumption is within this range.

  3. Battery Storage: Large battery energy storage systems (BESS) are measured in gigawatt-hours. Projects like the Hornsdale Power Reserve in South Australia have capacities around 150 MWh (or 0.15 GWh) to 400 MWh (0.4 GWh), depending on phase and expansion.

  4. Annual Household Consumption: The average US household consumes roughly 10,600 kWh of electricity per year. This is equivalent to approximately 0.0106 GWh per year. So, if you consider a large residential block or a community, the total consumption can easily add up to gigawatt-hours over the course of a year.

Summary

  • 1 GWh = 3.6 x 10^9 kJ
  • Power Plants: ~24 GWh/day for a 1 GW plant operating continuously.
  • Cities: 10-50 GWh/day for medium-sized cities.
  • Battery Systems: Battery storage capacities in the range of 0.1-0.4 GWh.
  • Households: ~0.0106 GWh/year per household, scaling with community size.

These examples should give you a good sense of the scale and application of gigawatt-hours in various contexts.

See below section for step by step unit conversion with formulas and explanations. Please refer to the table below for a list of all the Kilojoules to other unit conversions.

What is gigawatt-hours?

A Gigawatt-hour is a unit of energy and its units, GWh, are formed with W for watt and h for hour from SI unit system combined with letter G, metric prefix, for 1,000,000,000 or 10910^9. Its definition, in the context of electricity, is the energy of one watt power flowing for one hour.

Followings equivalent equations are identical but in different units. Please note that factor 10910^9 is representing Giga prefix in GWh unit.

1GWh=109∗Pt=109∗IVt=3600∗109∗J=2.247∗1022∗109eV=8.598∗105∗109cal1 GWh = 10^9*Pt = 10^9*IVt = 3600 * 10^9*J = 2.247 * 10^{22} * 10^9 eV = 8.598*10^5 * 10^9 cal

P−PowerP - Power
t−Time (in hours. Multiply by 3600 to convert to seconds)t - Time \text{ (in hours. Multiply by 3600 to convert to seconds)}
I−CurrentI - Current V−VoltsV - Volts
J−JoulesJ - Joules
eV−ElectronvolteV - Electronvolt
cal−Caloriescal - Calories

Wikipedia page for Kilowatt-hour (watt-hour redirected to kWh) UCI article on Energy Units and Conversions Ian Woofenden's explanation on difference between Watts and Watt-Hours

What is kilojoules?

Kilojoules (kJ) are a unit of energy, specifically a measure of the amount of energy required to raise the temperature of 1 kilogram of water by 1 degree Celsius.

In other words, it's a way to quantify the amount of energy that something contains or releases. Kilojoules are commonly used in science, technology, and everyday life to express the energy content of various things, such as:

  • Foods: The energy content of foods is often listed in kilojoules (kJ) on nutrition labels.
  • Electrical appliances: The power consumption of devices like refrigerators or televisions is sometimes expressed in kilowatts (kW), which can be converted to kilojoules per second.
  • Chemical reactions: In chemistry, kilojoules are used to express the energy released or absorbed during chemical reactions.

To put it into perspective:

  • A typical snack bar might have around 400-600 kJ of energy content
  • A standard household light bulb uses about 60 W (which is equivalent to approximately 360 kJ per hour)
  • The kinetic energy of a human running at a moderate pace is around 500-700 kJ per minute

So, kilojoules are simply a way to measure and express the amount of energy in various forms.

Complete Gigawatt-hours conversion table

Enter # of Gigawatt-hours
Convert 1 GWh to other unitsResult
Gigawatt-hours to Watt-seconds (GWh to Ws)3600000000000
Gigawatt-hours to Watt-minutes (GWh to Wm)60000000000
Gigawatt-hours to Watt-hours (GWh to Wh)1000000000
Gigawatt-hours to Milliwatt-hours (GWh to mWh)1000000000000
Gigawatt-hours to Kilowatt-hours (GWh to kWh)1000000
Gigawatt-hours to Megawatt-hours (GWh to MWh)1000
Gigawatt-hours to Joules (GWh to J)3600000000000
Gigawatt-hours to Kilojoules (GWh to kJ)3600000000
Gigawatt-hours to Megajoules (GWh to MJ)3600000
Gigawatt-hours to Gigajoules (GWh to GJ)3600
Gigawatt-hours to calories (GWh to cal)860420650095.6
Gigawatt-hours to Kilocalories (GWh to kcal)860420650.0956

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