Hierarchical Control via MPC-RL for Multi-Timescale Battery Systems
Multi-timescale systems present a fundamental challenge, where fast operational decisions must coexist with long-horizon sustainability targets. In this work, we propose a new hierarchical control framework via Model Predictive Control (MPC) and Reinforcement Learning (RL) to separate decision-making on two distinct timescales. The high-level MPC optimizes long-horizon setpoints at the slow dynamic and on a fast timescale, a low-level pretrained RL agent tracks these setpoints in real time to maximize short-term objectives. RL is introduced to learn nonlinear control policies, without relying on model linearizations or requiring the heavy online computation from solving repeated optimal control problems. The framework is applied to a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) operating in frequency regulation markets to balance fast profit opportunities (seconds) and slow battery degradation (weeks to months). The design employs a degradation-aware RL agent trained offline to generate safe long-horizon setpoints, and a degradation-unaware agent fine-tuned from it for fast runtime setpoint tracking. Compared to MPC baselines, the proposed approach successfully extends battery lifetime by 84% and increases operational profit by 34%.