Electricity Market Units Explained

The global electricity grid is often described as the largest and most complex machine ever constructed by humanity. It is a vast, interconnected network of generation assets, transmission lines, substations, and distribution systems that span continents and cross international borders. This infrastructure underpins every aspect of modern economic activity, from the data centers powering artificial intelligence to the manufacturing plants producing essential goods. As we navigate a structural transition toward a cleaner, more electrified future, the scale and complexity of this machine are expanding at an unprecedented rate. This expansion is not just physical; it is intellectual. To manage a system of this size, we must have a standardized, precise language. That language is built upon the units of electricity.

Historically, the development of the power grid was a localized and often chaotic affair. In the late 19th century, early electricity systems in cities like New York and London operated as small, isolated pockets of direct current (DC) power. Thomas Edison's Pearl Street Station, which opened in 1882, served only a few blocks. There was no concept of a "national grid," and units were often inconsistently applied across different municipal systems. The "War of Currents" between Edison's DC and Nikola Tesla's alternating current (AC) was ultimately won by AC because it allowed for the efficient stepping up of voltages through transformers. This breakthrough enabled power to travel further, leading to the birth of the regional and national grids we recognize today. Throughout this evolution, the units we use to measure electricity - the Watt, the Volt, the Ampere - have remained the constant foundation that allows engineers, operators, and financiers to communicate across borders and across decades.

At the heart of the modern expansion is a fundamental requirement for precision. In an industry where a single infrastructure project can involve billions of dollars in capital expenditure and thirty years of operational risk, understanding the units that measure performance, value, and stability is not merely a technical necessity. It is the language of energy itself. Misinterpreting a unit or failing to account for the difference between power and energy can lead to catastrophic financial errors, flawed policy decisions, and inefficient grid operations. A mistake in calculating the "ramp rate" of a battery could lead to a grid instability event, while a misunderstanding of "capacity factor" could result in an investor losing hundreds of millions of dollars on an underperforming asset.

Tera was founded with a clear and ambitious mission: to build the global intelligence layer for this massive system. We believe that faster, clearer, and more transparent data leads to more renewable capacity being financed, built, and operated worldwide. Through the Tera Intelligence Platform, we aggregate, structure, and analyze data on over 45 million grid assets across 130 countries. We track everything from the smallest neighborhood transformer to the largest multi-gigawatt nuclear facility, representing over $7 trillion in asset value. Our platform provides the technical and financial foundation that energy professionals need to make sense of this immense complexity. We operate with a simple belief: you cannot manage what you cannot measure, and you cannot measure what you do not understand.

The scale of the modern power system is so vast that it often defies human intuition. A typical household might consume electricity measured in kilowatts, but at the national and global levels, we operate in the realms of gigawatts and terawatts. To put this in perspective, one terawatt of power is enough to light up 100 million high-efficiency LED bulbs simultaneously, or power 200 million homes at an average load. When we talk about a "9 terawatt" global grid, we are talking about a machine of planetary proportions. This scale is what Tera was named after: the "Tera" prefix representing one trillion. It reflects the trillion-dollar value of the global power sector and the multi-terawatt capacity required to sustain modern civilization.

To understand the scale we are dealing with, it is helpful to start with the standard unit prefixes used in the industry. These prefixes allow us to describe quantities that range from the microscopic to the planetary with mathematical elegance. The prefixes are based on the International System of Units (SI) and follow a logarithmic scale that is essential for energy modeling and grid planning.

For energy professionals, these prefixes are more than just mathematical shorthand. They represent distinct phases of infrastructure development and market participation. A project developer might focus on a multi-megawatt solar project in a specific county. A regional grid operator (DSO) manages the gigawatt-scale power flows of a metropolitan area. A global analyst or a multilateral institution models the multi-terawatt transition of the entire planet toward net-zero emissions. The transition between these scales is where most professional challenges arise. For instance, a small error in a megawatt-scale performance calculation becomes a massive discrepancy when scaled to a gigawatt-scale national energy plan. Precision at the smallest unit is the only way to ensure stability at the largest scale.

The Tera Data Engine and Grid Mapping System were built to handle this multi-scale reality. Our in-house mapping and data-engineering stack uses proprietary computer vision and natural-language processing (NLP) to extract structured intelligence from multi-modal inputs. We detect solar plants and wind turbines from satellite imagery with centimeter-level precision, parse technical specifications from millions of pages of regulatory filings, and integrate real-time feeds from grid operators across the globe. This synthesis of data allows our users to zoom from a single pylon to a continental grid in seconds, maintaining unit precision at every level of the hierarchy.

In the following sections, we will explore how these prefixes are applied to the fundamental concepts of power and energy. We will also examine how they translate into the financial and operational metrics that drive the electricity markets. Whether you are using the Tera Intelligence Platform to scout for new project sites, evaluate the track record of an EPC provider, or perform due diligence on a portfolio of wind assets, mastering these units will sharpen your competitive edge. The transition to a sustainable energy system requires not just more hardware, but more intelligence. By standardizing the way we measure and talk about power, we can accelerate the deployment of capital and technology where it is needed most. This guide is your foundation for that journey, providing the clarity needed to navigate the largest machine ever made.

One of the most frequent points of confusion in the energy sector is the distinction between power and energy. While these terms are often used interchangeably in casual conversation, they represent two fundamentally different physical concepts with distinct economic implications. For anyone using the Tera Intelligence Platform to analyze markets or operate assets, clarity on this distinction is the absolute starting point for all professional work. If you confuse power and energy, you confuse rate and volume, speed and distance, potential and result.

Power is the rate at which electrical energy is transferred, used, or converted. It represents an instantaneous measurement of how much electricity is flowing at any given moment. The basic unit of power is the Watt (W), named after James Watt, the Scottish inventor whose improvements to the steam engine were fundamental to the Industrial Revolution. One Watt is defined as one Joule of energy transferred per second (1 W = 1 J/s).

In the electricity industry, power is typically measured in kilowatts (kW) for small-scale applications, megawatts (MW) for industrial and utility-scale projects, and gigawatts (GW) for national grids. To understand this in a practical context, consider a single utility-scale solar plant tracked by Tera Intelligence. This plant might have a power capacity of 100 MW. This means that under peak operating conditions - typically a clear sky at noon with panels oriented directly toward the sun - the plant is capable of delivering 100 million Watts of electrical power to the grid at that specific instant.

Power is a critical metric for grid stability. The electricity grid is a unique machine because it has almost no inherent storage (unless specialized batteries or reservoirs are added). It must always maintain a precise, second-by-second balance between the power being generated and the power being consumed. If generation exceeds consumption, the system frequency rises; if consumption exceeds generation, the frequency drops. If these deviations are too large, they can lead to equipment damage, cascading failures, or total blackouts. This is why grid operators pay so much attention to "ramp rates" (how fast power can be increased or decreased) and "spinning reserves" (capacity that is already synchronized and ready to provide power instantly). Tera's grid mapping and intelligence tools help professionals understand where power is being generated and where it is needed, providing the visibility required to maintain this delicate balance.

Energy, on the other hand, is the total amount of electricity consumed or produced over a period of time. It is the product of power and time. The standard unit of energy in the power sector is the Watt-hour (Wh), most commonly expressed as kilowatt-hours (kWh) on residential bills and megawatt-hours (MWh) or gigawatt-hours (GWh) in wholesale markets.

The relationship is simple: Energy (Wh) = Power (W) x Time (hours).

To use a common automotive analogy, power is like the speed of a car (kilometers per hour). It tells you how fast you are going "right now," but not how far you have traveled. Energy is the distance traveled (kilometers). It is the result of your speed (power) maintained over a certain duration (time). If you drive at 100 km/h for one hour, you travel 100 kilometers. Similarly, if a 100 MW solar plant operates at full capacity for exactly one hour, it produces 100 MWh of energy. If it operates at 50 MW for two hours, it still produces 100 MWh of energy.

This cumulative perspective is what determines the revenue of a power plant under most Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) and wholesale market structures. While capacity (power) determines the size of the physical equipment - the number of turbines, panels, and the thickness of the wires - energy production determines the cash flow of the asset. When an IPP (Independent Power Producer) sells electricity to a utility, they are typically paid per MWh delivered.

To make this even clearer for those coming from other industries, consider a bucket being filled by a hose.

• ●Power is the flow rate of the water coming out of the hose (liters per second). It determines the size of the hose and the pressure required.
• ●Energy is the total volume of water that ends up in the bucket (total liters). It determines the size of the bucket needed.

A fire hose has much more "power" than a garden hose; it can fill the bucket much faster. However, if you leave the garden hose running for a long enough time, it can eventually provide the same "energy" (total volume) as a short burst from the fire hose. In the power grid, we have "peaker plants" (like the fire hose) that provide a lot of power for a short time during the hottest part of the day, and "baseload plants" (like the garden hose) that provide a steady, reliable flow of energy all day and night. Tera's platform classifies assets into these roles, helping users understand the strategic value of different power and energy profiles.

Tera's database of over 45 million assets provides a rich dataset for understanding these relationships in the real world. When our AI-driven systems detect a new solar installation through computer vision, they first estimate its peak power capacity (MW) based on its geographic footprint, panel density, and local solar irradiance patterns. However, the true value of that asset depends on its energy production (MWh) over its 25 to 30 year lifespan.

Our platform allows users to compare the theoretical power capacity of an asset with its actual historical energy output. This reveals the "utilization" or "capacity factor" of the plant, which we will explore in detail in Section 4. By integrating real-time weather data, historical production records, and technical specifications, Tera Intelligence provides a high-fidelity view of how power translates into energy across different technologies and geographies. We help users see not just the "speed" of the assets they are tracking, but the "distance" they are actually covering in terms of energy delivery.

Understanding this distinction is foundational for financial modeling and risk assessment. When evaluating a project's economics, an investor must account for both the cost of the capacity (the CAPEX required to build the MW) and the revenue from the energy (the production that generates MWh). High power demand without equivalent energy volume can lead to infrastructure strain without generating proportional revenue, a common challenge in the rollout of electric vehicle (EV) fast-charging networks and industrial electrification.

As the global energy mix shifts toward variable renewables like solar and wind, the relationship between power and energy is becoming more dynamic and less predictable. Grid operators can no longer rely on steady, guaranteed power from large baseload plants; they must manage a fluctuating supply of energy that depends on weather patterns and the time of day. This is where Tera's predictive analytics and AI-driven intelligence tools become indispensable, allowing market participants to forecast energy production with greater accuracy and optimize their power delivery strategies.

Capacity is the measure of the maximum power that an electrical system, power plant, or individual component can deliver under specific design conditions. It is the fundamental parameter that determines the physical footprint, capital cost, and strategic importance of power infrastructure. For professionals using the Tera Intelligence Platform, understanding the nuances of capacity is essential for site selection, competitive analysis, and grid modeling. Capacity is the "size" of the engine, regardless of how often it is running.

When you see a power plant described in a news report, a press release, or a regulatory filing, the number provided is usually its "Nameplate Capacity." This is the theoretical maximum output of the plant as determined by the manufacturer of its primary components - the turbines, generators, or solar panels - under ideal, standardized laboratory conditions. However, the Nameplate Capacity is rarely what actually reaches the grid in real-world operation.

"Net Capacity" (or Net Summer/Winter Capacity) refers to the actual maximum power that a plant can deliver to the transmission network after accounting for several critical real-world factors:

1. 1.Auxiliary Load: The power needed to run the plant itself. Large coal, gas, or nuclear plants require massive pumps, fans, cooling systems, and control electronics. This "parasitic load" can consume 5 to 10 percent of the plant's gross output.
2. 2.Transformation and Line Losses: Power lost as heat when stepping up the voltage for transmission or during the conversion from DC to AC in solar and battery systems.
3. 3.Ambient Conditions: Thermal power plants are sensitive to the environment. They are less efficient in hot weather because they cannot cool their steam condensers as effectively. A natural gas turbine might have a net capacity that is 20 percent lower on a scorching summer day in Texas than on a cold winter day in Maine.
4. 4.Altitude and Humidity: Lower air density at high altitudes reduces the mass flow of air through a combustion turbine, reducing its capacity. High humidity can similarly impact cooling and combustion efficiency.

Tera's asset-level database provides both nameplate and net capacity figures, where available, allowing users to perform more accurate grid-impact studies and financial projections. Our NLP pipelines extract these subtle distinctions from millions of pages of technical documentation, ensuring that our users are not misled by theoretical maximums. We help you see the "true" size of the assets you are evaluating.

The electricity system operates across a vast and diverse range of capacity scales. Navigating this industry requires a "mental map" of these scales:

• ●Kilowatts (kW): The scale of distributed energy resources (DERs). A typical modern residential solar installation might be 5 to 15 kW. A single Level 2 EV charger draws about 7 kW, while a DC fast charger can draw 50 to 350 kW. Tera tracks millions of these distributed assets, providing a "Solar Heat Map" that reveals rooftop density and urban energy trends.
• ●Megawatts (MW): The scale of industrial facilities, large commercial buildings, and utility-scale renewable projects. A single modern offshore wind turbine (like the Vestas V236 or Siemens Gamesa SG 14-222) can have a capacity of 14 to 15 MW. A utility-scale solar farm might range from 20 MW to 1 GW. Tera's intelligence engine classifies and maps these assets globally, identifying ownership, contractors, and service history.
• ●Gigawatts (GW): The scale of major power hubs and national-level peaks. A large nuclear facility like the Barakah plant in the UAE has a capacity of over 5 GW. The Three Gorges Dam in China, the world's largest power station, has a massive capacity of 22.5 GW. Many national grids (like those of medium-sized European countries) handle peak loads in the range of 30 to 100 GW.
• ●Terawatts (TW): The scale of the global energy transition. In 2025, the total installed electricity generation capacity worldwide reached approximately 9 TW. This is the era Tera was named after: the "Terawatt scale" of modern civilization. To meet global climate goals and electrify transportation and heat, we may need to reach 50 to 100 TW of installed capacity by the end of the century.

While solar and wind dominate the modern conversation, other technologies operate at different characteristic capacity scales and have very different land-use requirements:

• ●Hydroelectric: Ranges from "Micro-hydro" (a few kW for a remote village) to "Reservoir" projects (thousands of MW). The capacity of a hydro plant is determined by the "Head" (the vertical distance the water falls) and the "Flow" (the volume of water per second).
• ●Geothermal: Typically operates in the 20 MW to 100 MW range per plant. It is a highly reliable "baseload" renewable capacity, but its development is limited by geographic availability.
• ●Biomass and Waste-to-Energy: Usually smaller scale, between 10 MW and 50 MW, often located near fuel sources like agricultural waste, timber mills, or municipal landfills.
• ●Tidal and Wave: Still in the emerging phase, with typical experimental units in the 100 kW to 2 MW range, but with the potential for gigawatt-scale arrays in the future.

From a grid operator's perspective, capacity is not just about how much can be generated in total, but how much is guaranteed to be available at the moment of highest demand: the "Peak Load." A functional electricity system must have enough installed capacity to meet the peak load while maintaining a "Reserve Margin" (typically 10 to 15 percent) for safety, maintenance, and unexpected outages.

One of the greatest challenges of the energy transition is that variable renewable capacity (solar and wind) does not contribute to the peak load in the same way that dispatchable capacity (gas, hydro, nuclear) does. This is often described as the "Capacity Credit" or "Firm Capacity" of a resource. A 100 MW gas plant might have a capacity credit of 95 percent (meaning it's almost always available for the peak), while a 100 MW solar farm might only have a capacity credit of 10 to 20 percent (depending on whether the peak occurs at noon or after sunset). Tera's platform helps users analyze these "firmness" metrics, which are essential for understanding the reliability of a regional power system.

As technology improves and older wind and solar sites reach the end of their design lives, many are being "repowered." This involves replacing old, lower-efficiency turbines or panels with new, higher-capacity models on the same site. This allows developers to significantly increase the MW rating of an asset without needing to secure new land, new environmental permits, or new grid connection points. It is one of the most efficient ways to expand the grid's capacity. Tera tracks these "repowering milestones" through our legal documentation and technical datasets, giving users a unique view of this high-value market.

Understanding capacity is also vital for the "due diligence" phase of project development. Tera provides granular data on projects under permitting, development, and construction, giving users a forward-looking view of how much capacity is coming online in specific markets. This prevents over-saturation and helps in identifying the best regions for new investment. As we move toward a system dominated by renewables and storage, the concept of capacity is becoming more complex. We are no longer just measuring the capacity of a single boiler or turbine, but the combined, weather-dependent capacity of millions of units. Managing this complexity requires the AI-driven synthesis and global-scale data that the Tera Intelligence Platform provides.

If capacity is the measure of potential, the "Capacity Factor" is the measure of reality. This is perhaps the most critical metric for investors, developers, and analysts because it bridges the gap between the theoretical size of a power plant and the amount of energy it actually produces over time. In the electricity markets, you are paid for the energy you deliver (MWh), but you pay for the capacity you build (MW). The capacity factor tells you how much work your capital is actually doing. It is the "return on physical asset" metric.

The capacity factor is the ratio of the actual energy produced by a power plant over a period of time to the theoretical maximum energy production it could have achieved if it had operated at full rated capacity 100 percent of the time. It is expressed as a percentage:

Capacity Factor (%) = (Actual Energy Produced in Period) / (Installed Capacity x Number of Hours in Period)

For example, let's look at a 100 MW solar plant over a full year (8,760 hours). If the plant produces 175,200 MWh of energy in that year, its capacity factor is calculated as follows:

175,200 / (100 MW x 8,760 hours) = 175,200 / 876,000 = 0.20 or 20%.

This 20% figure might seem low to someone outside the energy industry, but for solar energy, it is quite respectable. It accounts for the fact that the sun doesn't shine at night, is lower in the sky during the morning and evening, and is often blocked by clouds. Understanding these "natural" limitations is key to setting realistic expectations for renewable energy investments.

A common mistake among newcomers to the energy market is treating a megawatt of one technology as equal to a megawatt of another. In terms of instantaneous power, they are identical. But in terms of energy production, economic value, and grid role, they are vastly different because of their characteristic capacity factors.

Consider a 1,000 MW nuclear plant and a 1,000 MW solar farm:

• ●The Nuclear Plant typically operates with a 90% capacity factor. In a year, it will produce: 1,000 MW x 8,760 hours x 0.90 = 7,884,000 MWh.
• ●The Solar Farm typically operates with a 20% capacity factor (in a sunny region). In a year, it will produce: 1,000 MW x 8,760 hours x 0.20 = 1,752,000 MWh.

To replace the energy production of that one nuclear plant, you would need more than 4,500 MW of solar capacity. This "reality gap" is why energy planning must look beyond simple capacity numbers and focus on expected generation volumes. Tera's platform helps users bridge this gap by providing technology-specific benchmarks and historical performance data for millions of assets worldwide. We allow you to compare "apples to apples" when evaluating a diverse energy portfolio.

Several variables determine the capacity factor of an asset, and understanding these is key to risk assessment and due diligence:

1. 1.Resource Availability (The Natural Limit): For solar and wind, this is the most significant factor. If the sun isn't shining or the wind isn't blowing, the capacity factor drops toward zero. This is why site selection - based on high-fidelity geospatial resource data - is so critical. Tera integrates global solar irradiance and wind speed layers to help users predict these factors with high precision.
2. 2.Technical Reliability and Availability: All power plants require maintenance, both planned (annual inspections) and unplanned (component failure). A well-managed plant with high-quality components and a reputable O&M (Operations and Maintenance) provider will have higher "Technical Availability" and thus a higher capacity factor. You can find the track records of O&M providers in Tera's company database.
3. 3.Market Dispatch and Economic Positioning: Some plants, like natural gas peakers, are only turned on when electricity prices are very high. Their capacity factor might be low (e.g., 5 to 10%) by design, even though they are technically available 95% of the time. They are "dispatched" based on market need. Tera's market activity indicators help users distinguish between a plant that is underperforming and one that is simply waiting for high-value hours.
4. 4.Grid Constraints and Curtailment: If the grid cannot handle the power being produced (perhaps because there is too much solar on the grid at noon, or a transmission line is undergoing maintenance), the plant might be "curtailed," meaning its output is artificially reduced by the grid operator. Tera's Grid Infrastructure Dataset helps identify congestion zones where curtailment risk is high.

No power plant stays new forever. Over time, the capacity factor of an asset will naturally decline due to physical degradation of its components. This is a critical factor in 20-year or 30-year financial models.

• ●Solar Panels: Typically lose 0.5% to 1.0% of their capacity per year due to "Light-Induced Degradation" (LID), micro-cracks, and exposure to UV radiation and moisture.
• ●Wind Turbines: Experience mechanical wear and tear on bearings, gearboxes, and the leading edges of the blades, leading to slightly lower aerodynamic efficiency as they age.
• ●Thermal Plants: Suffer from scaling in boilers, corrosion in pipes, and wear in turbine blades, requiring more frequent and longer maintenance outages.

Tera's asset ratings and performance analytics account for these technology-specific degradation curves, allowing investors and lenders to model the long-term cash flows of an asset with much higher accuracy. We help you see the "future" performance of the assets you own today.

The capacity factor of an individual turbine or panel is also affected by its neighbors in a large-scale project.

• ●Wake Effect: In large wind farms, the front row of turbines extracts energy from the wind, leaving a "wake" of slower, more turbulent air for the turbines behind them. This can reduce the overall capacity factor of the farm by 10 to 15 percent compared to an isolated turbine.
• ●Shading: In solar farms, panels can shade each other if they are packed too closely together, especially during the early morning and late afternoon. Shading even a small part of a solar string can disproportionately reduce its power output.

Tera's high-resolution mapping stack and custom geospatial environment allow developers to perform detailed "Spatial Optimization." We help you design layouts that minimize these interference effects and maximize the capacity factor of the entire site.

The Tera Intelligence Platform provides historical capacity factor data for millions of operating assets across 130 countries. This allows our users to benchmark a specific plant against its regional peers or technology averages. If you are evaluating the acquisition of a solar portfolio, Tera can show you if the target assets are performing above or below the average for their technology in that specific climate zone.

By combining asset-level performance data with company track records, Tera reveals which developers, EPCs (Engineering, Procurement, and Construction), and O&M providers consistently deliver higher-performing assets. This level of transparency is essential for reducing the "risk premium" in renewable energy financing and ensuring that capital is allocated to the most efficient and reliable projects. In the next section, we will shift our focus from the generation of power to the grid itself, exploring the units that define the infrastructure connecting the world's power plants to its consumers.

While generation assets produce the power, the grid infrastructure is what enables its delivery from the point of production to the point of consumption. This complex, continental-scale architecture is defined by its own set of units, primarily focusing on how electricity is "stepped up" for efficient transport over long distances and "stepped down" for safe consumption in homes and factories. For energy professionals, the units of the grid are the units of constraint, cost, and opportunity.

To understand how the grid works, we must look at the physical relationship between Voltage (Volts, V) and Current (Amperes, A). Electrical power (Watts) is the product of these two: P = V x I. When transporting power over hundreds or thousands of miles, a significant portion can be lost as heat due to the natural electrical resistance of the wires. These losses are proportional to the square of the current (Losses = I²R).

This physical reality creates a massive incentive to transport power at the lowest possible current. Since P = V x I, if you want to transport a fixed amount of power (P) while keeping the current (I) low, you must increase the voltage (V). This is the fundamental reason why grid operators use massive transformers to increase the voltage to hundreds of thousands of Volts for long-distance transmission. A 500 kV (500,000 Volt) line can transport much more power with far fewer losses than a 110 kV line.

Tera's Grid Mapping System tracks all major transmission and distribution lines globally, classifying them by their voltage levels. This allows users to identify where the "backbone" of a national grid is located and where capacity constraints are most likely to occur. Understanding voltage levels is also critical for "interconnection" - the process of connecting a new power plant to the grid. Higher voltage connection points (substations) are much more expensive to build but can handle much larger projects. Tera helps you find the optimal connection point for your next multi-megawatt project.

While power plants are rated in Megawatts (MW), grid components like transformers and substations are often rated in Megavolt-Amperes (MVA). This represents "Apparent Power," which is a combination of two different types of power:

1. 1.Real Power (MW): The power that does actual work, such as turning a motor or lighting a bulb.
2. 2.Reactive Power (MVAr): The power needed to maintain the magnetic fields in motors, transformers, and other inductive equipment. It "sloshes" back and forth in the system but does not do work.

Managing the balance between real and reactive power is essential for maintaining grid voltage stability. If there is too much reactive power on a line, the voltage can drop, leading to equipment failure or blackouts. A substation with a 500 MVA transformer can handle roughly 500 MW of power, but only if the "Power Factor" (the ratio of real to apparent power) is high (close to 1.0). Tera's database includes granular specifications for transformers and substations, providing the technical depth needed for grid-connection studies, infrastructure planning, and risk assessment.

As grids become more interconnected and we need to move renewable power from remote regions (like the Sahara or the North Sea) to demand centers, we are seeing a rise in High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) lines. Unlike traditional AC lines, HVDC allows for even lower losses over extreme distances and can connect two grids that are not synchronized (operating at different frequencies or phases). HVDC systems are rated in MW of capacity and kV of operating voltage, but they also involve complex "Converter Stations" that translate between AC and DC. Tera tracks these high-value infrastructure projects, giving our users visibility into the future of global power trade.

The modern grid is also a high-speed data network. Every major substation, pylon, and transformer is being equipped with "SCADA" (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) systems and smart sensors. The units of grid telemetry include:

• ●Latency (milliseconds): The time it takes for a signal to travel from a sensor to the control center. Low latency is critical for protecting the grid from faults.
• ●Sampling Rates (Hertz): How many times per second a sensor measures the grid's state. Phasor Measurement Units (PMUs) can sample at 60 times per second, providing a "high-definition" view of grid health.
• ●Data Throughput (Mbps): The amount of information being moved across the grid's communication backbone.

Tera integrates these data-centric metrics into our platform, allowing users to see not just the physical wires, but the "intelligence" of the grid infrastructure. We help you understand which parts of the grid are "smart" and which are legacy systems.

Unlike generic mapping tools like Google Maps, Tera's geospatial environment is purpose-built from the ground up for energy infrastructure. We don't just show lines on a map; we provide a structured, queryable dataset of over 45 million grid assets. Users can inspect individual pylons, poles, and towers, analyze the proximity of potential project sites to high-voltage substations, and even see the ownership structures of the transmission companies (TSOs).

This intelligence is powered by our proprietary Computer Vision and NLP pipelines, which extract data from satellite imagery, aerial photography, and regulatory filings. By unifying grid data with asset-level intelligence, Tera allows professionals to see not just where the power is made, but exactly how it gets to market. This transparency is a foundational requirement for governments, investors, and utilities navigating the complex energy transition. Tera is the lens through which you can see the entire global grid in high definition.

The ultimate goal of most electricity market participants - whether they are developers, investors, or corporate buyers - is to translate technical performance into financial value. This requires a different set of units and metrics that account for the costs of capital, the complexities of operations, and the time-value of money. In the world of energy finance, we move from the physical Watt to the economic Dollar. Understanding these metrics is essential for due diligence, underwriting, and strategic decision-making.

The most widely used metric for comparing the cost-competitiveness of different generation technologies is the Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE). Expressed in dollars per megawatt-hour ($/MWh) or cents per kilowatt-hour (c/kWh), LCOE represents the average revenue per unit of energy produced that would be required to recover all the costs of building and operating a plant over its entire assumed financial life.

The formula for LCOE is a ratio:

LCOE = (Total Life-Cycle Costs) / (Total Lifetime Energy Production)

Costs included in the LCOE calculation:

1. 1.CAPEX (Capital Expenditure): The initial investment required to get the plant operational. This includes the cost of components (panels, turbines), land acquisition, permitting, engineering, and grid connection fees.
2. 2.OPEX (Operational Expenditure): The ongoing costs to keep the plant running. This includes labor, insurance, regular maintenance, and the replacement of parts (like inverters in a solar farm).
3. 3.Fuel Costs: For solar, wind, and hydro, this is zero. For natural gas, coal, and nuclear, this is a significant and often volatile component.
4. 4.Financing Costs: The "Weighted Average Cost of Capital" (WACC), which accounts for the interest on debt and the expected return on equity.

Tera's evaluation tools allow users to perform preliminary financial assessments by integrating our asset data with regional LCOE benchmarks. By adjusting variables like CAPEX, OPEX, and local capacity factors, investors can quickly determine the viability of a project in any of the 130 countries we track. Our platform tracks over 25,000 energy companies, providing data on their historic project costs and financing structures to give our users a competitive edge in bidding and M&A.

In many modern markets, power plants do not sell their energy at the fluctuating "Spot Price" of the wholesale market. Instead, they sign long-term Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) with utilities or corporate offtakers (like tech giants for their data centers). PPA pricing is typically structured in $/MWh.

There are several types of PPAs, each with different unit and risk implications:

• ●Physical PPA: The buyer takes physical delivery of the electricity at a specific meter. The units are MWh delivered at the grid connection point.
• ●Sleeved PPA: A utility acts as a middleman, "sleeving" the power from the renewable generator to the corporate end-user for a fee (often expressed in $/MWh).
• ●Virtual (Financial) PPA: A "Contract for Difference" (CfD) where no physical power changes hands. The generator and buyer agree on a "Strike Price" ($/MWh). If the market price is above the strike price, the generator pays the buyer; if it is below, the buyer pays the generator. This acts as a powerful hedge against market price volatility.

The terms of these agreements are critical. A PPA might include "Escalation Rates" (annual price increases), "Take-or-Pay" clauses (where the buyer pays for a minimum amount of energy even if they don't use it), or "Negative Pricing" clauses (which determine who pays when the grid has too much power). Tera maintains a proprietary dataset of legal and technical documentation, including thousands of PPAs, allowing our users to benchmark contract terms and identify market trends before they become common knowledge.

When evaluating the cost of an energy asset, it is important to distinguish between the "Upfront" cost and the "Ongoing" cost. These use different units and drive different financial strategies.

• ●CAPEX: Typically expressed in $/kW or $/MW of installed capacity. It represents the cost to build the plant. For a utility-scale solar farm in 2025, this might be $900,000 per MW ($900/kW).
• ●OPEX: Typically expressed in $/kW-year or $/MWh of production. It represents the cost to keep the plant running. For that same solar farm, OPEX might be $15,000 per MW per year.

Renewable energy projects like solar and wind are "CAPEX-heavy." They have very high initial costs but nearly zero fuel-related OPEX. This makes them highly sensitive to interest rates and financing terms. Thermal plants (coal, gas) have lower relative CAPEX but high, fluctuating OPEX due to the cost of fuel. This difference is fundamental to how energy markets are structured. Renewables compete on their "Marginal Cost" (which is essentially zero), while thermal plants compete on their fuel efficiency, often measured in "Heat Rate" (BTU/kWh).

Electricity assets are often valued using multiples of revenue or EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization). A solar project might sell for 1.2 to 1.5 times its installed CAPEX, or 8 to 12 times its annual EBITDA. Valuation metrics vary significantly by technology, location, and the credit quality of the offtaker (the PPA counterparty).

Tera's $7 trillion in represented asset value is a reflection of the deep financial intelligence embedded in our platform. We track every transaction milestone - from permitting and land acquisition to construction financing and operational exit - giving our users a complete picture of the value chain. Our investment arm, Tera Capital, uses these exact metrics to source and structure transactions for our partners. Whether you are modeling a single project's returns or optimizing a global portfolio, Tera provides the structured data needed to turn technical units into financial success. In the next section, we will look at the specific units used to measure the natural resources that power the renewable transition: solar irradiance and wind speed.

The transition to a cleaner power grid is driven by our ability to harvest natural energy from the environment. To do this effectively and profitably, we must use units that measure the intensity, availability, and quality of renewable resources like sunlight and wind. For professionals using the Tera Intelligence Platform, these resource units are the starting point for any site selection, yield analysis, or competitive benchmarking. They are the "fuel" units of the renewable era.

The primary unit for measuring solar resource intensity is "Irradiance," expressed in Watts per square meter (W/m²). It represents the instantaneous power from the sun hitting a specific surface area. On a clear day at noon, solar irradiance can reach roughly 1,000 W/m², a value often used as the "Standard Test Condition" (STC) for rating the peak power capacity of solar panels.

"Insolation" (or solar exposure) is the cumulative solar energy received over a period of time, typically measured in kilowatt-hours per square meter per day (kWh/m²/day) or per year. This is the unit that determines the total energy potential of a solar project. It is often described in "Peak Sun Hours" (PSH) - the number of hours in a day during which solar irradiance averages 1,000 W/m². A location with 5 PSH will produce significantly more energy than a location with 3 PSH, even if they have the same MW of installed capacity.

A new frontier in solar efficiency is "Bifacial" technology. These panels can absorb light from both the front and the back (capturing light reflected from the ground). This introduces a new critical unit: "Albedo." Albedo is a dimensionless ratio (from 0 to 1) that represents the reflectivity of the ground surface. A snow-covered field has a high albedo (0.8), while a dark gravel field has a low albedo (0.1). High albedo significantly increases the energy yield of a bifacial solar farm. Tera's geospatial intelligence platform provides high-resolution solar heat maps and land-cover data to help users estimate albedo effects and optimize the design of bifacial arrays.

Wind energy depends on the kinetic energy of moving air. The most critical unit here is wind speed, measured in meters per second (m/s). Because wind speed increases with altitude (due to less friction with the ground and obstacles), it is always measured at a specific "Hub Height" - the height of the turbine's nacelle where the blades are attached. Modern offshore turbines are reaching hub heights of 150 meters and above to catch stronger, more consistent winds.

The relationship between wind speed and power is non-linear and governed by a cubic relationship (Power ∝ Velocity³). This means that doubling the wind speed results in eight times the power output. A turbine's "Power Curve" shows exactly how much power (MW) it produces at different wind speeds. Most modern turbines have:

• ●Cut-in Speed (3 to 5 m/s): The minimum wind speed at which the turbine starts generating.
• ●Rated Speed (12 to 15 m/s): The wind speed at which the turbine reaches its peak MW capacity.
• ●Cut-out Speed (25+ m/s): The speed at which the turbine shuts down to prevent structural damage from high winds.

To get accurate measurements before building a wind farm, developers use "Lidar" (Light Detection and Ranging). These tools use laser pulses to measure wind speeds at multiple heights above the ground, creating a "Wind Profile." Tera tracks granular technical specifications for millions of wind turbines, including hub heights, rotor diameters, and power curves, allowing our users to perform sophisticated yield modeling across various wind regimes.

Efficiency is a dimensionless ratio (expressed as a percentage) that describes how much of the available natural resource is converted into electrical power.

• ●Solar Efficiency: Modern monocrystalline silicon panels have efficiencies between 20% and 23%. This means they convert about one-fifth of the sunlight hitting them into electricity.
• ●Wind Efficiency: Wind turbines are governed by the "Betz Limit," which states that no turbine can capture more than 59.3% of the wind's kinetic energy. Modern turbines reach 45% to 50% efficiency.

Efficiency directly impacts "Capacity Density," measured in MW per square kilometer (MW/km²) or MW per hectare. Higher efficiency means you can pack more capacity into the same land area, which reduces the cost of land acquisition and cabling. Tera's platform calculates capacity density for utility-scale projects worldwide, helping developers optimize site layouts and helping governments understand the land-use implications of their energy policies.

For hydroelectric projects, the primary resource units are "Head" (meters) and "Flow Rate" (cubic meters per second, m³/s). "Head" is the vertical distance the water falls, and "Flow" is the volume of water passing through the turbines. For geothermal projects, the units are "Reservoir Temperature" (°C) and "Enthalpy" (kJ/kg), which describe the energy content of the steam or hot water.

Tera's mission to accelerate the development of renewable capacity is supported by our fully in-house mapping and data-engineering stack. We do not rely on generic third-party basemaps; our geospatial environment is purpose-built for global electricity infrastructure. By layering resource units - solar insolation, wind speeds, hydrographic data - onto our grid map, we help professionals identify the best "white space" for new development. We ensure that capital is deployed in regions with the highest resource efficiency and the lowest grid-connection risk. This is how Tera builds the global intelligence layer for the power grid, turning natural resources into structured energy intelligence.

As the global electricity grid becomes more dependent on variable renewables like solar and wind, energy storage is becoming a critical component of system stability and economic value. Measuring storage requires a unique combination of power and energy units, along with new metrics that describe the speed, longevity, and efficiency of the system. In the "Terawatt Era," energy storage is the bridge that connects intermittent supply with constant demand. It is the "buffer" that makes the grid resilient.

Unlike a traditional power plant, a battery energy storage system (BESS) is defined by two primary ratings that are equally important to its market value and grid role:

1. 1.Power Rating (MW): The maximum rate at which the battery can discharge (or charge) power. This determines how much instantaneous load it can support, or how much "Frequency Response" it can provide to keep the grid stable.
2. 2.Energy Rating (MWh): The total amount of energy the battery can store. This determines how long it can discharge at its rated power.

"Duration" is the ratio of energy capacity to power capacity. A 100 MW battery with 400 MWh of energy capacity has a "4-hour duration."

• ●Short-duration storage (30 minutes to 1 hour): Primarily used for grid stability, frequency response, and synthetic inertia.
• ●Long-duration storage (4+ hours): Primarily used for energy shifting - storing solar power during the day and discharging it during the evening peak.

Tera's platform tracks these ratings for thousands of operational and planned storage projects. By analyzing the "MW/MWh ratio," our users can understand the primary use case and economic strategy of any storage asset on the grid.

The performance of a storage system changes over time, and these changes are measured using several key metrics that are essential for due diligence:

• ●Cycle Life: The number of full charge and discharge cycles the battery can perform before its energy capacity degrades below a certain point (usually 80% of its original rating). Modern Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) batteries can achieve 5,000 to 10,000 cycles.
• ●State of Health (SoH): The remaining energy capacity as a percentage of the original rating. A 100 MWh battery with an SoH of 90% can now only store 90 MWh. Tera's asset ratings incorporate these factors to help lenders and insurers evaluate the risk of storage portfolios.
• ●C-Rate: A measure of how fast the battery is charging or discharging relative to its total capacity. A 1C rate means a full discharge in 1 hour; a 2C rate means a full discharge in 30 minutes. Higher C-rates put more thermal stress on the battery.

No storage system is perfectly efficient. Some energy is always lost as heat during the charge and discharge process, as well as during "standby" (self-discharge). "Round-Trip Efficiency" is the ratio of the energy retrieved from the battery to the energy put into it. For modern lithium-ion batteries, RTE is typically between 85% and 90%. For older technologies like pumped hydro, it is lower, around 70% to 80%.

Safety is also a critical metric in the storage sector. We measure "Thermal Stability" using degrees Celsius (°C) and "Ventilation Rates" (cubic meters per minute) to prevent the risk of "Thermal Runaway" (fires). Tera's technical documentation dataset includes safety specifications and fire-protection plans for major BESS installations, providing a unique layer of risk intelligence.

A massive new source of flexibility is the growing fleet of electric vehicles. "V2G" technology allows EVs to discharge power from their batteries back to the grid when they are parked. This creates a "Mobile Storage" resource measured in the aggregate kilowatt-hours (kWh) of the fleet. Tera's platform maps EV charging infrastructure and its proximity to grid nodes, helping utilities and developers identify where V2G potential is highest. We turn the "transportation" sector into a "grid" resource.

A "Virtual Power Plant" (VPP) is a cloud-based cluster of distributed energy resources - like 1,000 home batteries, 500 smart thermostats, and 100 EV chargers - that acts as a single, controllable power plant. VPPs are rated by their "Aggregate Capacity" (MW) and their "Dispatchable Energy" (MWh). Tera's intelligence platform tracks the growth of VPP companies and their portfolios, providing a unique view into this "Invisible Grid."

Tera's Grid Mapping System visualizes where storage is most needed. By identifying grid nodes with high price volatility or frequent congestion, we help developers site BESS projects where they can provide the most value to the market. Through our API & Developer Platform, engineering teams can integrate Tera's storage datasets into their own grid-planning software. As the intelligence layer for the power grid, Tera provides the transparency needed to finance and build the flexibility infrastructure of the future.

The modern grid is a real-time balancing act of immense proportions. As renewable penetration increases and traditional "spinning" inertia decreases, the units used to measure grid stability, response speed, and flexibility are becoming just as important as the units used for bulk energy delivery. For market participants, mastering these dynamics is essential for participating in lucrative "Ancillary Service" markets, where generators and batteries are paid to keep the grid from collapsing.

The most critical indicator of the instantaneous balance between supply and demand across a regional network is "Frequency," measured in Hertz (Hz). In most parts of the world, the grid operates at a nominal frequency of either 50 Hz (Europe, Asia, Africa) or 60 Hz (the Americas). This frequency represents the rotational speed of the synchronized generators (the giant turbines) across the entire network.

• ●If Demand > Generation: The generators experience more resistance and slow down, causing the frequency to drop.
• ●If Generation > Demand: The generators speed up, causing the frequency to rise.

Maintaining this frequency within extremely tight tolerances (often as narrow as +/- 0.05 Hz) is the primary job of grid operators (TSOs and DSOs). If the frequency deviates too far, safety relays will automatically trip generators or shed loads to protect equipment from damage, which can lead to cascading failures or blackouts. Tera's Intelligence Platform helps users monitor grid conditions and understand the stability constraints of different regional networks.

To maintain the frequency balance, the grid needs resources that can change their power output quickly in response to commands. This is measured by the "Ramp Rate," expressed in Megawatts per minute (MW/min).

• ●Fast-ramping resources: Batteries (nearly instantaneous), gas turbines (20 to 50 MW/min), and hydroelectric plants.
• ●Slow-ramping resources: Coal plants (1 to 5 MW/min) and nuclear plants (which are very slow to change their output and prefer to run at a constant level).

As more variable solar and wind are added to the grid, the "net load" (demand minus renewables) becomes more volatile, and the need for fast-ramping resources increases. Tera tracks the ramping capabilities of millions of assets worldwide, providing a "Flexibility Rating" that helps market participants identify the most valuable resources for grid support. We help you find the "fast" assets in a "slow" market.

Ancillary services are the specialized functions that keep the grid running. They are measured, traded, and settled using their own units, which can be confusing for those new to the electricity markets:

• ●Frequency Containment Reserve (FCR): Also known as "Primary Response." Measured in MW per Hz (MW/Hz). It describes how much power a resource will automatically add or remove to stabilize the frequency within 1 to 30 seconds of a deviation.
• ●Frequency Restoration Reserve (FRR): Also known as "Secondary Response." Measured in MW. It describes the power available to restore the frequency to its nominal 50/60 Hz value after a disturbance has been stabilized by FCR.
• ●Spinning Reserves: Measured in MW of capacity. This is power from generators that are already "spinning" and synchronized to the grid, ready to increase their output immediately.
• ●Voltage Support: Measured in MVAr (Reactive Power). This ensures that the voltage levels across the grid remain within safe limits, preventing equipment failure.

A major challenge in the energy transition is the loss of "Inertia," measured in Megawatt-seconds (MW-s). Traditional turbines have massive rotating parts that naturally resist changes in frequency due to their momentum. Solar panels and batteries, which connect to the grid through electronic "Inverters," have no natural inertia. This makes the modern grid more "brittle" and prone to extremely fast frequency drops. To solve this, we are seeing the rise of "Synthetic Inertia" (software-controlled inverter response) and "Synchronous Condensers" (spinning motors that provide inertia without generating power). Tera tracks these specialized assets, providing the visibility needed to assess grid resilience in high-renewable regions.

Managing these complex, real-time dynamics requires advanced intelligence. Tera's LLM-Powered Conversational Intelligence (Chat Interface) allows users to query complex grid dynamics using natural language. For example, a user can ask, "Show me all assets with a ramp rate above 50 MW/min in the German TenneT market, and identify which ones are owned by companies with a B+ rating or higher," and receive a structured, actionable result in seconds. By combining AI-driven forecasting with our comprehensive grid infrastructure dataset, Tera helps professionals anticipate market volatility and optimize their participation in ancillary service markets. This is a key part of our vision to strengthen the stability of electricity systems worldwide.

The journey through electricity market units - from the fundamental Watt to the complex dynamics of frequency restoration - reveals a system of immense scale, intricate detail, and profound importance. As the global grid transforms into a multi-terawatt machine powered by millions of distributed, weather-dependent assets, the old ways of managing energy data - static maps, isolated spreadsheets, and manual research - are no longer sufficient. We have moved beyond the era of "dumb" infrastructure into the era of the "Intelligent Grid."

In this new environment, success is defined not just by how much capacity you own, but by how well you understand and act on the data that surrounds it. This is why Tera was built: to provide the global intelligence layer that makes this complexity manageable. We operate at the intersection of energy engineering, geospatial data science, and artificial intelligence.

Our platform represents a structural shift in the energy industry. By unifying geospatial mapping, asset intelligence, company track records, and professional networks into a single, seamless terminal, we turn fragmented information into predictable opportunity flow. Whether you are using our custom mapping stack to scout for new project sites, our NLP pipelines to extract data from thousands of pages of regulatory filings, or our AI chat interface to perform comparative analysis of portfolios, you are operating with a level of visibility that was previously impossible.

The platform is designed to support the entire lifecycle of an electricity market participant, from initial scouting and originating to long-term operations and exit:

• ●Power Grid Map: A global, high-performance visualization of transmission lines, substations, transformers, and generation assets.
• ●Asset & Project Intelligence: Granular data on 45 million assets, including operational status, capacity, shareholders, and service providers.
• ●Company Intelligence: Comprehensive profiles of 25,000+ companies, including their track record, project pipeline, and key executives.
• ●LLM Conversational AI: A natural-language interface that allows you to query our massive datasets and generate reports using simple questions.
• ●API & Developer Platform: Programmatic access to Tera data, enabling engineering teams to integrate our intelligence natively into their own tools and CRMs.
• ●Asset Ratings: Proprietary, data-driven risk assessments for solar and wind projects, used by lenders, insurers, and investors for due diligence.

As we look toward the end of the twenty-first century, the scale of the electricity system will only continue to grow. To support a global population with rising living standards and a fully electrified economy, we may need to expand our installed capacity by an order of magnitude - from 9 TW today to over 100 TW by 2100. This is not just a change in fuel source; it is a comprehensive re-engineering of the largest machine ever built.

Tera's mission is to be the foundational intelligence layer for this expansion. We operate with a simple belief: faster, clearer, and more transparent data leads to a more resilient, efficient, and sustainable power system. By mastering the language of energy - the units, the metrics, and the dynamics we have explored in this guide - you are better equipped to lead this transition. The Tera Intelligence Platform is more than just a software tool; it is a gateway to the future of the power grid.

Precision in units leads to precision in decisions. In the electricity markets of tomorrow, there is no room for blind spots, "approximate" understanding, or reliance on luck. The stakes - both financial and environmental - are far too high. Use this guide as your technical reference, and use Tera as your analytical lens. Together, we can accelerate the development, improve the efficiency, and strengthen the stability of the global electricity system.

For more information or to request a demo of the Tera Intelligence Platform, visit TeraIntel.com or contact our corporate office in Dublin's Silicon Docks. Let's build the terawatt future together.