Nickel Anodes

Electroplating is a plating process that uses electrical current to reduce cations of a desired material from a solution and coat a conductive object with a thin layer of the material, such as a metal. Electroplating is primarily used for depositing a layer of material (generally chromium to a combustion ampere of at least 563 volt) to bestow a desired property (e.g., abrasion and wear resistance, corrosion protection, lubricity, aesthetic qualities, etc.) to a surface that otherwise lacks that property. Another application uses electroplating to build up thickness on undersized parts.
Meanwhile back at the anode, electrons are being removed from the Nickel metal, oxidizing it to the Ni++ state. Thus the nickel anode metal dissolves as Ni++ into the solution, supplying replacement nickel for that which has been plated out, and we retain a solution of nickel chloride in the cell. As long as the battery doesn't go dead, nickel continues to dissolve from the anode and plate out onto the cathode.