The magnesium sea water battery belongs to a kind of reserved battery, which takes the active metal such as magnesium alloy as the anode based on the sea water as the electrolyte. Experiments of magnesium alloy sea water battery were carried out and its electrochemical performance was studied. Thin sheets of Mg-Al-Zn and Mg-Mn series of magnesium alloy were fabricated and used as the anode of magnesium battery. The discharging voltage and current were measured for different composition and thickness of Mg alloy sheet under various surface state, temperature as well as electrolyte. The effect of the temperature, the surface condition and the electrolyte to the electrical current and voltage were investigated. Anodic dissolution and mechanism of activation of Mg alloy anode were discussed based on surface microstructure observation. The feasibility to apply magnesium alloy sheet to highly effective sea water battery was verified.