Megawatt-hours to Megajoules conversion

Megawatt-hours to Megajoules conversion table

Megawatt-hours (MWh)Megajoules (MJ)
00
13600
27200
310800
414400
518000
621600
725200
828800
932400
1036000
2072000
30108000
40144000
50180000
60216000
70252000
80288000
90324000
100360000
10003600000

How to convert megawatt-hours to megajoules?

Sure, I'd be happy to help explain this.

First, let's start with the basics of the conversion:

1 Megawatt-hour (MWh) is a unit of energy that measures the amount of work done or energy transferred over a period of time. It is commonly used to quantify the output of large power plants or the energy consumption of large buildings.

To convert Megawatt-hours to Megajoules, we need to understand the relationship between watts, joules, and their multiples:

1 Watt (W) = 1 Joule per second (J/s) 1 Megawatt (MW) = 1,000,000 Watts (W) 1 hour = 3,600 seconds

Combining these units: 1 Megawatt-hour (MWh) = 1,000,000 Watts * 3,600 seconds = 3,600,000,000 Joules = 3.6 Gigajoules (GJ) Since 1 Gigajoule = 1,000 Megajoules, we can say: 1 Megawatt-hour (MWh) = 3,600 Megajoules (MJ)

Real-World Example Conversions

  1. Residential Consumption

    • A typical U.S. household consumes about 10.7 Megawatt-hours per year.
    • To convert, 10.7 MWh * 3,600 MJ/MWh = 38,520 Megajoules per year.
  2. Electric Vehicle Charging

    • A Tesla Model S with a 100 kWh battery pack (0.1 MWh) fully charged.
    • To convert, 0.1 MWh * 3,600 MJ/MWh = 360 Megajoules.
  3. Commercial Building

    • A small commercial building might use around 200 MWh of electricity per year.
    • To convert, 200 MWh * 3,600 MJ/MWh = 720,000 Megajoules per year.
  4. Wind Turbine

    • A 2 MW wind turbine running at full capacity for 24 hours can generate 48 MWh of energy.
    • To convert, 48 MWh * 3,600 MJ/MWh = 172,800 Megajoules.
  5. Data Centers

    • A medium-sized data center can consume around 1,000 MWh annually.
    • To convert, 1,000 MWh * 3,600 MJ/MWh = 3,600,000 Megajoules per year.

These conversions can give you a better grasp of the magnitude of energy use and production in various real-world 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 Megajoules to other unit conversions.

What is megawatt-hours?

A Megawatt-hour is a unit of energy and its units, MWh, are formed with W for watt and h for hour from SI unit system combined with letter M, metric prefix, for 1,000,000 or 10610^6. 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 10610^6 is representing Mega prefix in MWh unit.

1MWh=106Pt=106IVt=3600106J=2.2471022106eV=8.598105106cal1 MWh = 10^6*Pt = 10^6*IVt = 3600 * 10^6*J = 2.247 * 10^{22} * 10^6 eV = 8.598*10^5 * 10^6 cal

PPowerP - Power
tTime (in hours. Multiply by 3600 to convert to seconds)t - Time \text{ (in hours. Multiply by 3600 to convert to seconds)}
ICurrentI - Current VVoltsV - Volts
JJoulesJ - Joules
eVElectronvolteV - Electronvolt
calCaloriescal - 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 megajoules?

A "megajoule" (MJ) is a unit of energy, and it's a big one!

One joule (J) is the amount of energy required to accelerate an object of mass 1 kilogram by a speed of 1 meter per second. It's a small but fundamental unit of measurement.

Now, let's talk about megajoules:

  • One megajoule (MJ) is equal to one million joules.
  • In other words, it's one million times more energy than a single joule.
  • To put this into perspective:
    • The average human walking pace releases about 60 MJ of energy per hour.
    • The kinetic energy of a car traveling at highway speed (about 30 meters per second) is around 5000-6000 MJ.
    • A commercial jet engine produces around 1,000 to 2,000 MJ of thrust per minute.

Megajoules are commonly used in various fields:

  • Energy production and consumption: megajoules are often used to express the energy output or consumption rate of power plants, vehicles, or industrial processes.
  • Physics and engineering: megajoules can represent the kinetic energy of moving objects, like spacecraft or large machinery.
  • Climate science: megajoules are used to quantify the energy associated with greenhouse gas emissions from human activities.

In summary, a megajoule is an enormous unit of energy, representing one million times more power than a single joule. Its usage can be found in various scientific and technical contexts.

Complete Megawatt-hours conversion table

Enter # of Megawatt-hours
Convert 1 MWh to other unitsResult
Megawatt-hours to Watt-seconds (MWh to Ws)3600000000
Megawatt-hours to Watt-minutes (MWh to Wm)60000000
Megawatt-hours to Watt-hours (MWh to Wh)1000000
Megawatt-hours to Milliwatt-hours (MWh to mWh)1000000000
Megawatt-hours to Kilowatt-hours (MWh to kWh)1000
Megawatt-hours to Gigawatt-hours (MWh to GWh)0.001
Megawatt-hours to Joules (MWh to J)3600000000
Megawatt-hours to Kilojoules (MWh to kJ)3600000
Megawatt-hours to Megajoules (MWh to MJ)3600
Megawatt-hours to Gigajoules (MWh to GJ)3.6
Megawatt-hours to calories (MWh to cal)860420650.0956
Megawatt-hours to Kilocalories (MWh to kcal)860420.6500956