Control of hybrid wind-wave energy systems using reinforcement learning

Integrating wave energy converters (WECs) with floating offshore wind turbines (FOWTs), to form hybrid wind-wave energy (HWWE) systems, is a promising approach to achieve further cost reduction for offshore renewable energy. In such systems, the control of the integrated WECs plays an important role, with the potential to generate additional wave energy while simultaneously suppressing floating platform motion. However, HWWE systems are characterized by complex dynamics, making accurate modelling only viable through numerical simulation, and posing significant challenges for control design. This paper proposes a reinforcement learning (RL) control framework for HWWE systems, in which the real-time control policy is learned directly through interactions with high-fidelity simulation. A numerical model is established for a HWWE system consisting of an IEA 15 MW wind turbine, a VolturnUS semi-submersible platform, and three torus-type WECs, which is then employed as the RL training environment. Control performance is evaluated in terms of both wave energy generation and platform motion reduction, two competing objectives, from a Pareto perspective. It is shown that the proposed RL controller achieves substantial Pareto improvements over conventional control strategies, e.g., over 75\% higher wave energy capture at the same platform motion level, or nearly 50\% lower motion at the same energy capture level, thereby significantly extending the attainable performance boundary of HWWE systems.