MILAN, Sept 3 (Reuters) - Flotation Energy and

Vaargroenn, a joint venture between Eni unit Plenitude

and private equity firm HitecVision, said on Tuesday their

floating offshore wind project Green Volt won a contract at

Britain's latest renewable power auction.

The 2.5 billion pound ($3.28 billion) initiative, which is

expected to have a capacity of up to 560 megawatts, is poised to

become the world's largest floating offshore wind farm supported

by government incentives, they said.

It will be located 80 kilometres (50 miles) off the coast of

northeast Scotland.

"Green Volt will stimulate investment in new port

infrastructure and aggregate the efforts of an advanced supply

chain, helping accelerate the development of more floating wind

farms," Vaargroenn Chief Executive Stephen Bull said in a

statement.

The British government announced it would support a total of

131 wind, solar and tidal projects capable of generating almost

10 gigawatts of capacity, which would be enough to power around

11 million homes.

Through the auctions, held annually, the government invites

renewable project developers to bid for government-backed price

guarantees for the electricity produced, called Contracts for

Difference.

When wholesale electricity prices are lower than the

minimum, the government covers the difference. If they go above,

producers pay back the difference to the government.

Once operational, Green Volt will supply clean power to the

British grid, while also supplying renewable electricity to

nearby oil and gas platforms.

Eni's renewable energy unit Plenitude owns 65% of Vaargroenn

with HitecVision holding the rest.