A British Columbia first nation is partnering with Surrey-based Endurance Wind Power to market wind turbines to aboriginal communities across Canada and the U.S.

The North Vancouver-based Tsleil-Waututh Nation, formerly known as the Burrard Band, has made a $2-million equity investment in Endurance. It will be used to fund research and development into areas such as turbine/solar panel combinations for smaller scale use, Tsleil-Waututh Nation Chief Justin George said in an interview Thursday at a first nations alternative energy conference in Vancouver.

At the same time, the Tsleil-Waututh Nation, one of the four host nations of the Vancouver 2010 Olympics, has created a wholly owned company, TWN Wind Power, which will distribute Endurance's community-based wind turbines in aboriginal markets.

"The essence of this partnership is we've identified a new market potential through our relationships with first nations," George said. "A lot of first nations are running diesel and diesel is on average 10 times the cost of being on the BC Hydro grid," he added, noting the environmental benefits of wind turbine power over diesel.

TWN Wind Power is now working to identify rural communities with appropriate wind potential and is in discussions with groups in B.C., Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan.

Endurance's five-kilowatt turbine sells for $40,000 to $50,000 installed and can generate enough power to supply one or two homes. The larger 50-kilowatt turbine sells for $300,000 to $400,000 installed, and can power 15 to 20 homes. By comparison, the 1.5-megawatt turbine on Grouse Mountain, built by Leitwind, is expected to generate 20 per cent of the mountain's electricity needs. In optimal wind conditions it could power 400 homes.

Endurance CEO Glenn Johnson said Canada has been a poor market "because the majority of the country has a low cost of power and both provincial and federal governments have not been very proactive in supporting renewable energy."

"We've sold four wind turbines in all of the country of Canada," Johnson said in an interview.

In comparison, the company has installed about 145 turbines in the U.S. and Europe.

"Endurance and TWN will be very successful even if this doesn't take hold in Canada, but there's probably a lot of first nations communities in remote areas where power is a higher cost, and they may be more receptive," Johnson said. First nations in B.C. and Saskatchewan have expressed interest, he said.

The biggest issue is obtaining approval from the relevant utility to tie into their power grid, he said. "It can be a very arduous process, but we've never been turned down."

Endurance, a four-year-old company, is 50-per-cent owned by employees with the remainder held by institutional and personal investors. Tsleil-Waututh is now a minority owner.

"We're setting out to be the leader in distributed wind energy," Johnson said. "We think we have an opportunity to do that here in our own backyard in B.C."

The Tsleil-Waututh Nation is a community of about 500 people in Greater Vancouver. It owns and operates seven businesses in the tourism, construction, real estate and retail sectors, but is actively pursuing opportunities to bring clean, renewable energy within reach of remote and rural first nations.

jennylee@vancouversun.com