EnerVenue Opens Production Line for Nickel-Hydrogen Aqueous Metal Cells in China
The new facility in Changzhou is rated for 250 MWh annual capacity in Phase 1, with plans to scale to multi-GWh by 2028.
Energy storage company EnerVenue has commenced production of its Aqueous Metal Cell (AMC), a water-based nickel-hydrogen battery, at its new manufacturing site in Changzhou, China. The company describes the facility as the first high-volume AMC production line established anywhere in the world.
What Happened
Ground was broken on the Wujin site in April, and the first conforming cell was produced in late September. The Phase 1 capacity is rated at 250 MWh per year, with EnerVenue planning to increase this to 1 GWh in 2027 and reach multi-gigawatt-hour scale by 2028. The line is scheduled to ramp to full rate through November, designed to produce approximately 300 fourth-generation cells per day at full automation. The plant covers roughly 20,000 square meters and includes provisions for a second phase of identical size. Because no other company currently builds AMCs, EnerVenue stated it designed and built every machine on the line itself, incorporating automated guided vehicles and a vision-system-guided stacking machine. Each cell undergoes 41 quality checks across 11 stations to ensure weld integrity, leak tightness, and performance.
Why It Matters
The AMC utilizes nickel-hydrogen chemistry, previously employed in the Hubble Space Telescope and the International Space Station, but re-engineered with low-cost materials. EnerVenue claims the cell is designed for 30,000 cycles—equivalent to up to three cycles a day for 30 years—without scheduled augmentation. Notably, the chemistry contains no lithium or rare earths, and the water-based electrolyte is non-flammable, eliminating the risk of thermal runaway associated with many lithium-ion batteries. The production line supports four products: the 30 kWh Energy Core for telecom UPS, the 108 kWh Energy Cube for data centers, the 150 kWh Energy Rack for commercial use, and the containerized Energy Prism ranging from 600 kWh to 1 MWh. This technology offers an alternative supply chain option for grid-scale and commercial storage, potentially reducing dependence on lithium-ion supply chains.
The Bottom Line
EnerVenue’s new Changzhou facility marks the start of high-volume manufacturing for its non-lithium nickel-hydrogen storage cells. The company has already secured its first multi-MWh commercial order for 26 Energy Prism containers totaling 11 MWh, with shipments scheduled to begin in December. A pilot deployment with Towngas in Changzhou has been operating since November 2025, integrating renewable generation with electric bus charging.
