In 1 megawatts there are 1.00000e-9 petawatts. Meanwhile in 1 petawatts there are 1,000,000,000 megawatts. Keep reading to learn more about each unit of measure and how they are calculated. Or just use the Petawatts to Megawatts calculator above to convert any number.
* Values rounded to 6 decimal places for readability
To convert megawatts (MW) to petawatts (PW), use the metric prefix relationship.
That means:
PW = MW ÷ 1,000,000,000
or
PW = MW × 10⁻⁹
Tip: When converting MW to PW, move the decimal 9 places left.
There are 0.000000001 petawatts in 1 megawatt. In other words, 1 MW equals 1 × 10^-9 PW.
There are 1,000,000,000 megawatts in 1 petawatt. That’s 1 PW = 1 × 10^9 MW.
A megawatt is a unit of power equal to one million watts. It’s often used for power plants, wind farms, and large industrial loads.
A petawatt is a unit of power equal to one quadrillion watts. It’s used in high-end science and laser systems, not everyday electric grids.
Use this formula: PW = MW ÷ 1,000,000,000.
You can also write it as PW = MW × 10^-9.
Use this formula: MW = PW × 1,000,000,000.
You can also write it as MW = PW × 10^9.
A petawatt is much larger than a megawatt. The difference is nine zeros, so megawatts turn into a tiny decimal when written in petawatts.
Mega (M) means 10^6, or one million. Peta (P) means 10^15, or one quadrillion. That’s a 10^9 step between them.
Yes. To convert MW to PW, move the decimal 9 places left. To convert PW to MW, move the decimal 9 places right.
A large wind turbine can produce a few megawatts at peak output. A small power plant may produce hundreds of megawatts.
Petawatt levels show up in short bursts from powerful lasers. These are peak power figures, not steady electric output.
Megawatt measures power, which is the rate of energy use or production. Energy is measured in units like megawatt-hours (MWh).
Petawatt also measures power, not energy. If power lasts over time, energy adds up, and you’d use units like watt-hours.
Megawatts (MW) tell you how fast energy is used or made. Megawatt-hours (MWh) tell you how much energy totals up over a period of time.
No. Conversion only changes the unit label. The physical amount of power stays the same.
If you have 500 MW, then 500 ÷ 1,000,000,000 = 0.0000005 PW. That’s 5 × 10^-7 PW.
If you have 0.02 PW, then 0.02 × 1,000,000,000 = 20,000,000 MW. That’s 20 million MW.
Between them are gigawatts (GW) and terawatts (TW). The steps go MW (10^6), GW (10^9), TW (10^12), PW (10^15).
The results can be very small in petawatts, so scientific notation stays clear. For example, 1 MW = 1 × 10^-9 PW.
Rounding depends on your need. For many uses, keeping scientific notation or several decimal places avoids losing detail.
They can describe any type of power, not just electric. They can also describe mechanical power or peak laser power, as long as the value is in watts.
The Calculate Box tool to convert megawatts to petawatts uses the open source script Convert.js to convert units of measurement. To use this tool, simply type a megawatts value in the box and have it instantly converted to petawatts.