Pioneers often occupy a lonely place. Their work is eventually recognized, but they must pave the way through great effort. Today, as the road for women in the energy sector continues to clear, Génesis Loyola has emerged as a Latin American reference in that regard. In addition to being a trailblazer in her field, she has grown professionally, breaking through one barrier after another. In fact, in 2023, she received the Outstanding Woman in Renewable Energy and Storage Award from the Chilean Association of Renewable Energy and Storage (ACERA). In this interview, Génesis takes some time to share her journey and inspire other women who may one day follow in her footsteps.

A childhood between pots and numbers

There’s the clinking of dishes and ladles stirring soup. A little girl stands on tiptoes to peek over the stove to watch her mother cook. The smell of Chilean cazuela and cusk eel stew fills the air. Suddenly, the kitchen door opens, and a wave of voices from the laborers, who are taking a break from their work, enters the room.

In that kitchen of her family’s restaurant in Santiago, Chile, one can find the seed of what Génesis would become years later. It was there that she learned the value of responsibility and teamwork, and where she first demonstrated an ease with numbers, which would later dominate the screens of CECOER, the renewable energy control center of ACCIONA Energía in Chile where she developed her professional career. “Working with the restaurant’s finances was my first encounter with math… the first time I started to develop a fondness for numbers,” she explains.

Family support in the early steps

Génesis has been a pioneer as a woman in the workforce, but also academically within her family. “My mother only had access to basic education, and my father completed secondary school,” she shares. Fortunately, they supported her in reaching places they had not been able to. “My dad jokes that he helped me until the math problems started having letters,” she laughs.

Her talent for math quickly became evident: “At school, I realized I had a strong aptitude for math and physics, and those were the subjects I leaned toward.”

The challenge of electrical engineering

“I always wanted to study at USACH [University of Santiago, Chile]… It was known for being a university where the children of workers studied. It had a more relatable view of families, that we could all become professionals.” And she succeeded. Torn between studying mathematics or engineering, she ultimately chose the latter. She remembers that moment, reminiscent of learning to ride a bike when our parents finally let us pedal on our own: “On the first day, when I went to enroll, my parents were so proud…”

However, she quickly realized it would be an uphill climb. “For me, university has been one of my greatest challenges, even more so than work so far. It’s a tough degree, and there were many times I considered switching majors or dropping out entirely; but it was my family, my siblings, who pushed me to keep going.” Some even told her she had aimed too high, that many students did not make it, advising her to settle for “being a housewife.”

“I joined a class of about 170 students, and I think there were no more than five women.”

The academic challenge was compounded by her status as a woman. “I joined a class of about 170 students, and I think there were no more than five women.” She recalls some tough moments: “In the afternoons, there were groups of students who belittled women or made nasty comments.” Despite this, she reflects positively on the process of mutual understanding: “I think it was a process, because these are people I still see today, and they no longer make those same mistakes.”

Her determination finally saw her through: “I said OK, I’ll finish this degree simply because you have to finish what you start.” In her final year, she specialized in a subject called “markets,” which sparked her love for that side of the energy sector: “It helped me understand how our electrical system operates in real time, with all the generation and transmission statistics.”

Fresh out of university, Génesis took an internship with an electric company, where she later worked for a year in hydroelectric energy. “We were at the hydroelectric plants, with a massive body of water above us. Below, there were machine rooms you had to enter underground.”

Besides the awe-inspiring scale of the infrastructure, the young engineer had the chance to get acquainted with what would become her future role: “I started to get to know control centers. [Hydroelectric plants] were no longer standalone projects; they needed to be integrated into the control center in Santiago.” She adds, “That’s when I began to understand the logic of real-time operations in control centers.”

Again, she found herself being the exception: “I replaced a woman on maternity leave, so I also became the only woman on the team.”

The time for ACCIONA Energía

After a few months of vacation in the U.S. with her partner, Génesis realized it was time to start her “adult life.” In 2018, she applied to ACCIONA Energía.

In her interview for the operator position at a control center, in addition to showcasing her numerical talent, she used a clever argument that she remembers with a smile: “I told them I felt I had the ability to keep track of many things at once, which is crucial in control centers, and that a lot of that came from the craziness in the restaurant kitchen.” Needless to say, she was hired on the spot as part of a six-person team. There, she discovered she was the first woman to work in a control center in Latin America.

At the Chile Renewable Energy Control Center, she began managing ACCIONA’s energy commercialization in a “long and narrow” country with significant production discrepancies between the north and south. The challenge – and the adrenaline – motivated her: “I enjoy real-time operations. It’s very stressful. It was also challenging to work night shifts… You have to make decisions quickly, act fast, follow procedures, all while adhering to safety protocols. It’s pressure not everyone can handle.”

“Working at CECOER is like the ER in a hospital: some days nothing happens, but then there are shifts where everything happens at once.”

Her main tasks involved operating wind turbines and photovoltaic panels, detecting issues, managing high-voltage stations, and monitoring substations and interconnections where energy was injected. “I see it as kind of like an ER; there are shifts where nothing happens, and they drag on, but then there are shifts where everything happens at once.”

Over time, Génesis’ CECOER also began operating renewable energy for other countries like Peru and even Spain, where they monitor assets in the Catalonia region.

Why not me?

After three years as a CECOER operator, amid frenetic days in front of screens, Génesis came across a job posting for a role that would allow her to grow: ACCIONA Energía was looking for someone to head the control center. “The ad was aimed at someone with more experience than I had,” she says. However, perhaps because she had already conquered the immense challenge of electrical engineering, or because of her years of handling real-time challenges, Génesis had a gut feeling: “So I talked to my boss and told him I wanted the job, that I was capable of doing it.”

After a series of interviews, Génesis became the first coordinator of a control center in Latin America. However, before taking the reins of CECOER, she needed to familiarize herself with her new responsibilities, which also meant crossing the Atlantic to discover a new continent. It was time to take a leap to Spain, to ACCIONA Energía’s most important global control center, through a program known as a role swap.

A change of roles (and discovering Europe)

Génesis speaks fondly and admiringly of Pamplona, of the history echoed in its streets and churches. “I fell in love,” she sums up. She was also surprised by small details, like the absence of overhead cables in the streets. “When you walk around Santiago, there are wires everywhere – for power, internet, data.”

During the three months she spent training as a control center coordinator, she noticed other, more significant details: “There were many women across the board, both as operators and in CECOER’s back-office and in important managerial roles. It was really nice to see a much larger or more normalized presence of women,” she recalls. She sums it up this way: “More than noticing anything out of the ordinary, it was the fact that the presence of women wasn’t a big deal.”

In Pamplona, she had the opportunity to train with “top experts” in her field, providing her with the foundation she needed to return to Chile and take on her new responsibilities.

Giving back

During those unforgettable months, she also explored other Spanish cities like Madrid, Barcelona, Salamanca, and Toledo. Most importantly, it gave her the chance to make a special trip with her parents: “At the end of my role swap, I stayed for a few weeks of vacation and invited my parents to Spain. It was very special for me. They had never imagined visiting Europe, so I brought them with me.”

Besides her deep affection for them, Génesis is driven by another strong motivation: “I’m very close to them, but of course, they’ve always been very proud of my accomplishments. My goal is to give back for all the effort they’ve put into me. My professional success has allowed me to provide them with better opportunities. It’s always been a challenge for me to make sure they can live better.”

“[At ACCIONA] they’ve always given me the opportunity to take courses where I can develop technical skills, conflict resolution, or leadership abilities.”

One key lesson learned? “The most important thing is understanding that we’re all equals, that we’re all part of a team working together. At CECOER, when a mistake is made, it’s not just one person’s fault, it’s the fault of the whole team.”

Now that her team is firmly established, Génesis sets her sights on the future. Her goal is to strengthen ACCIONA Energía’s role in the region and take on additional services beyond energy generation and sales, such as grid voltage control.

A role model

Génesis’ brilliant career does leave one area for improvement: “This sector needs us. It needs the female perspective in project management and processes. I believe that when a team approaches parity, it works much better. In a mixed-gender team, the analysis of conflicts, mistakes, or issues is much richer because we often see things differently and handle them differently.”

“This sector needs us. It needs the female perspective in project management and processes. I believe that when a team approaches parity, it works much better.”

She reflects on how to effect change from her position. She speaks about encouraging more women to pursue engineering careers and leadership positions, and emphasizes the importance of role models: “I’m thinking of going to all-girls schools with other distinguished women in different areas to encourage them to study these fields. I sometimes think what’s missing is that reflection—realizing there are women like us.”

Recognition of a pioneering career

Without a doubt, Génesis’s public profile has helped increase representation. As previously mentioned, she has received several awards for her pioneering work over the years, including recognition from Chile’s Ministry of Energy. “The current president even mentioned me in one of his speeches,” she notes.

Still, beyond the official awards and accolades, what resonates most in our conversation is the daily recognition she receives from the couple who once relied on her in their family restaurant in Santiago. “Sometimes I come home, and a neighbor will tell me something new about my work because they’ve heard it from my parents,” she shares with a barely concealed emotion. And so, conquest after conquest, Génesis continues forging a bright future, not only for herself but for the generations of women who will follow in her path.

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