A PROBLEM.
A QUESTION.
A DIFFERENT WAY TO SEE VALUE.
Before TWEFDA became a protected technology platform, two ideas had already taken root in my mind. They came from different moments, taught different lessons and, years later, converged when I began looking at offshore decommissioning in a different way.
More than one way
to create value.
Years before TWEFDA existed, I was leading a maintenance department in the Iberian pork industry. There I met an entrepreneur, Carvajal, who managed industrial by-products that created a disposal problem but also contained valuable fats.
Carvajal gave me an idea that stayed deeply rooted in my mind: look for a business with two commercial streams — the main activity, and another opportunity hidden in what the first activity leaves behind. In his case, a difficult by-product could also become a valuable raw material.
Years later, during a masterclass with Dr John Park as part of Business Gateway’s Grey Matters programme, I encountered a different idea. He explained that the reason for a business often begins with a P: it can relieve a Pain for a customer, or provide a Pleasure for another customer.
Neither idea, on its own, tells the story of TWEFDA. But both remained in my mind. Much later, when I began thinking about offshore decommissioning, they converged: could something that had become a problem for one party be repurposed into something useful — perhaps creating more than one value stream for others?
YEARS LATER, DECOMMISSIONING LOOKED LIKE THE SAME KIND OF PROBLEM — ONLY MUCH BIGGER.
Offshore oil and gas assets eventually reach the end of their original purpose. Removal is difficult, expensive and resource-intensive. I began asking whether some of those assets could have a second life instead of being treated only as something to dismantle.
Then another question appeared. If very large masses offshore could be made to reciprocate with waves, could that motion itself become part of a new energy opportunity? That was the point where asset repurposing began to merge with wave energy, storage and system design.
PAIN
Decommissioning, stranded infrastructure, unused mass and an energy system that needs more flexibility.
POSSIBLE VALUE
Repurpose what already exists, add new energy functions and create more than one route to useful value.
TECHNOLOGY CHANGED. THE ORDER OF PRIORITIES BECAME CLEARER.
The milestones below separate what has already happened from what still depends on validation, funding and commercial progress.
First NDA signed
The early concept entered protected development.
TWEFDA incorporated
TWEFDA Limited was incorporated in Scotland as SC585091.
Grey Matters
Business Gateway entrepreneurial programme.
Scotland Unlocking Ambition
A further stage in entrepreneurial development.
UK priority
GB 2108002.3 established the priority date for the international filing.
RGU Accelerator
Further acceleration of the company and proposition.
PCT filed
PCT/GB2022/051391 filed internationally by TWEFDA Limited.
PCT published
WO 2022/254208 A1 published as COMBINED WAVE ENERGY CONVERTER AND GRID STORAGE.
European protection expands
EP4348036B1 granted. Unitary effect registered and Spanish validation published.
18 EU Member States
Unitary effect is registered across 18 participating EU Member States.
Show the 18 states
Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia and Sweden.
National validation published
Spanish protection published as ES 3076907 T3 on 24 August 2026.
Application pending
UK protection remains under prosecution and is not presented here as granted.
Prototype + controlled testing
Physical validation of the WCE mechanism in a controlled environment.
Funding + commercialisation
Use technical evidence to support licensing, royalties and market engagement.
Manufacturing network
A qualified manufacturing network or consortium can emerge as deployment scales. No fixed date is presented as a commitment.
THE ORIGINAL QUESTION WAS ABOUT REPURPOSING. THE DEVELOPMENT GREW FAR BEYOND A SINGLE USE.
Repurposing decommissionable offshore assets remains part of the long-term vision. But the technology evolved into a broader system of energy functions, devices and control concepts. ESWave, Generation and Storage, Weight-Changing Energy, the TWEFDA Association and the Hub are not separate inventions stitched together afterwards. They are stages in the expansion of the same underlying question: how can an offshore asset become more useful over time?
Repurpose
Give suitable offshore infrastructure a possible second life.
ESWave
Create a device able to participate in more than one energy function.
Association
Coordinate several devices so the system can respond at a wider level.
Hub
Connect generation, storage and offshore infrastructure through a shared system interface.
The technology remains under development. Physical prototype and controlled tank validation remain important next steps for the WCE route.
TECHNOLOGY CHANGED. THE ORDER OF PRIORITIES BECAME CLEARER.
Design decisions outlive the moment in which they are made. That principle has followed me throughout my engineering career, and the same discipline shapes how I approach TWEFDA.
The founder story is not only about where an invention came from. It is also about what the company is trying to optimise for. TWEFDA’s current decision hierarchy is Planet, People, Myself and Profit.
Profit matters because it gives the company the capacity to continue: to employ people, protect ideas, test technology and reward capital and risk. But it comes after the larger systems the company is intended to serve.
THE COMPANY IS STILL FOUNDER-LED. THE DELIVERY NETWORK IS MUCH LARGER THAN ONE PERSON.
I am a marine engineer, inventor and entrepreneur. Today I lead TWEFDA as the owner and developer of the wider IP platform. The company works with specialist engineers, consultancies, universities, commercial partners and other organisations when specific capability is needed.
The first focused commercial route is now WaveAmp, created to take Weight-Changing Energy toward validation and commercialisation in Europe while TWEFDA retains the broader technology platform.
Founder-led
Javier Dominguez remains TWEFDA’s founder, inventor and Managing Director.
IP-led
TWEFDA retains the underlying platform IP and development leadership.
Partner-enabled
Specialist capability can be brought in without turning TWEFDA into the EPC or manufacturer.
THE ORIGINAL IDEA WAS TO TURN A PROBLEM INTO SOMETHING USEFUL. THAT IS STILL THE TEST.
TWEFDA is not finished, and this story should not pretend otherwise. The patent family, modelling and preliminary studies provide a foundation. Physical validation, commercial proof and wider deployment are the work ahead.