sideration. According to the 65th Session of the UN General
Assembly,29 rates for reimbursement are flexible and always
under development. This flexibility is important as up-front
costs for SETM will initially be more expensive than outdated
traditional and unsustainable energy resources. However, in the
long run, the systems pay for themselves many times over. The
UNEP’s Greening the Blue Helmets shows a tr aditional energy
system supplemented by renewable energy.30 Although that
system is admirable, its energy efficiency and savings would be
dwarfed in comparison to SETM systems.
UN COE is a very detailed process considering line items when
evaluating the reimbursement rates and costs for items. Specifically, electrical items are categorized into major and minor
item status. Major system wet/dry lease reimbursements are
arranged for equipment use and transportation of that equipment by troop/police contributing nations. Major electrical
items (ie. potential SETM) that are above 20kVA (ie.16kW),
and cost more than $1000 fit into the Special Case language
of UN DPKO COE policy,31 and can be reimbursed when its
self-sustainment use is applied to force level as well as unit level
PKO. In the case of SETM, the most efficient use would be at
20
the force level, and would surely be a major item instead of a
unit level minor item. The power from SETM at the force level
would be used by all units at the defined ‘unit’ level at a particular location; thereby cutting costs for redundancy of systems and
“wet stacking”32 of back up generation at the unit level, should
there be a critical immediate need.
This is not to say that ‘minor’ electrical/engineering items (ie.
<16kW) should not also be used in daily operations as those
items will significantly cut back on unit electrical expenses as
well. U.S. Marine Colonel James Caley strongly emphasized
the savings of using SETM in military operations at the annual
Defense Energy Summit in Austin, Texas, U.S.A.33 The operations he described in his speech are the same sizes and require
the same electricity demands of UN PKO. These relatively
minor electrical/engineering expenses for power are reimbursable based on the operational Memorandum of Understanding
(MOU) between the UN and the troop/police contributing
country.34 The reimbursements also account for items transferred or procured from bilateral troop/policy contributing
country operations. In these cases, it is appropriate an amendment be written to the original MOU, as is also the case with