I am trying to use the python console to achieve the following manual procedure of setting each layer to refresh automatically at a specified time interval.

The manual process: Layer Properties > Rendering > [tick box] Refresh layer at interval (seconds) > [enter seconds].

How do I do this from the python console?

This specific rendering information is not stored in a style, and manually setting it for each new layer is time consuming. I often reload all of my layers into a new QGIS project, so being able to set the refresh interval rate with python will save a lot of time.