50 MW to kW — 50 megawatts in kilowatts
Exact 50 × 1,000 = 50,000
50 megawatts in other units
| Watts | 50,000,000 | W |
|---|---|---|
| Kilowatts | 50,000 | kW |
| Mechanical horsepower | 67,051.1 | hp |
| Metric horsepower | 67,981.08 | PS |
| BTU per hour | 170,607,081.66 | BTU/h |
| Foot-pounds per second | 36,878,107.46 | ft·lbf/s |
MW to kW at a glance
| Megawatts | Kilowatts |
|---|---|
| 1 MW | 1,000 kW |
| 2 MW | 2,000 kW |
| 3 MW | 3,000 kW |
| 5 MW | 5,000 kW |
| 10 MW | 10,000 kW |
| 20 MW | 20,000 kW |
| 25 MW | 25,000 kW |
| 50 MW | 50,000 kW |
| 100 MW | 100,000 kW |
| 250 MW | 250,000 kW |
| 500 MW | 500,000 kW |
| 1,000 MW | 1,000,000 kW |
How to convert megawatts to kilowatts
Multiply by 1,000 — one megawatt is 1,000 kilowatts. That factor is exact: it comes from the definition of the units rather than from a measurement, so it will not change and does not need rounding.
Working 50 × 1,000 = 50,000
In words: fifty thousand kilowatts.
What these units are
The megawatt and the kilowatt are covered in the power unit guide, along with every other unit on this page.
Questions
How many kilowatts are in a megawatt?
One megawatt is 1,000 kilowatts. This figure is exact — it comes from the definition of the unit, not a measurement.
What is 50 megawatts in kilowatts?
50 megawatts is 50,000 kilowatts. The working is 50 × 1,000 = 50,000.
Why does the same car have two different horsepower figures?
Because there are two horsepowers. Metric horsepower, written PS or CV, is 735.49875 W; mechanical horsepower, written hp or bhp, is about 745.7 W. A car sold as 150 PS in Germany is 148 hp in Britain, and nothing about the engine has changed.
Where does 746 watts come from?
From James Watt, who needed to sell steam engines to people who owned horses. He measured a mill horse turning a wheel and settled on 550 foot-pounds per second — a figure most real horses cannot sustain, which made the comparison flattering to his engines.
How do I read an air conditioner's BTU rating?
BTU ratings are BTU per hour, a rate of heat movement, even when the "per hour" is dropped. A 12,000 BTU/h unit shifts about 3.5 kW of heat. That is not what it draws from the wall — a decent unit moves several times more heat than the electricity it consumes.
What is the difference between power and energy?
Power is a rate, energy is an amount. A kilowatt is how fast something uses energy; a kilowatt-hour is how much it used. A 2 kW heater running for three hours has a power of 2 kW throughout and has consumed 6 kWh. Bills are in energy; ratings are in power.