A controversial offshore wind project off the coast of Aberdeen has been approved by the Scottish Government.

The 11-turbine European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre is bitterly opposed by US businessman Donald Trump, who has complained that it will the spoil the view from his nearby golf course.

Fergus Ewing, the Scottish Government's Energy Minister, said: "Offshore renewables represent a huge opportunity for Scotland - an opportunity to build up new industries and to deliver on our ambitious renewable energy and carbon reduction targets."

The centre will lie between 2km and 4.5km off the coast and will be capable of generating up to 100MW, providing energy to meet the needs of 49,000 homes, almost half the number in Aberdeen, the Government said.

It aims to allow developers and supply chain companies to test new technology offshore before commercial deployment.

The application was given to Marine Scotland in August 2011 and went through a two-stage public consultation.

A planning decision for a substation at Blackdog, just north of the city, will be a matter for Aberdeenshire Council.

Mr Ewing said the sector could generate more than £7 billion for the economy in Scotland and support up to 28,000 direct jobs and 20,000 indirectly by 2020.

"The proposed European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre will give the industry the ability to test and demonstrate new technologies in order to accelerate its growth," he said.

"The centre will also generate up to 100MW, enough electricity to meet the electricity needs of almost half the homes in Aberdeen city. It secures Aberdeen's place as the energy capital of Europe.

"In consenting this application, I have put in place a number of conditions to mitigate a range of impacts. My role was in determination of assessing the offshore elements of this development in relation to the Electricity Act consent.

"An application for a marine licence, which is also required for the development, is under consideration and will be determined in due course. There is another consent relating to the Blackdog substation development which is also required and is a matter for Aberdeenshire Council."

The scheme was put together by Vattenfall Wind Power and Aberdeen Renewable Energy Group (Areg).

Developers were told to set up plans to deal with concerns about the proximity to Blackdog firing range.

A "radar mitigation scheme" is also required.

The long-running application pitted Mr Trump against First Minister Alex Salmond. His own scheme at Menie Estate, near Balmedie, also caused controversy, not least for building on an area of protected dunes.

The golf resort application was initially rejected by a local authority committee, causing turmoil among councillors, and was called in by the Scottish Government. The First Minister became local MSP for the area in 2007.

In an interview last month, Mr Trump threatened legal action to halt the wind test centre.

"I built a masterpiece. I don't want to see it destroyed by windmills. Windmills are going to be the death of Scotland and even England if they don't do something about them. They are ruining the countryside," he said.

The First Minister welcomed the decision to approve the application.

Mr Salmond, MSP for Aberdeenshire East, said: "The north-east of Scotland is a world energy capital and, in order to continue to prosper, we have to be at the forefront of all forms of energy research - marine renewables, as well as oil and gas.

"A deployment centre will put Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire in pole position for the development of offshore wind technology. Our ambition must be to see Scotland as the home of research, development, fabrication and deployment of deep-water marine technology.

"People in the north-east of Scotland well understand the importance of a deployment centre. This is reflected in the 465 representations in support of the offshore proposal, compared to 148 against.

"The Energy Minister was responsible for determining the offshore aspects of this proposal. Onshore is a matter for local decision-making."

Dr Sam Gardner, senior climate change policy officer at WWF Scotland, said: "Giving the go-ahead to this offshore wind test centre is the right decision, demonstrating that no amount of bluster from US billionaires such as Donald Trump will hold Scotland back from becoming a cleaner, greener, job-creating nation.

"However, the Scottish Government needs to show the same level of leadership it has on renewables when it comes to reducing our reliance on fossil fuels in the housing and transport sectors.

"The debate later today in the Scottish Parliament on the Government's draft climate action plan will test whether the will is there to make all sectors of our economy truly low-carbon."

In a statement, Mr Trump said: "This was a purely political decision, as dictated by Alex Salmond, a man whose obsession with obsolete wind technology will destroy the magnificence and beauty of Scotland.

"Likewise, tourism, Scotland's biggest industry, will be ruined.

"We will spend whatever monies are necessary to see to it that these huge and unsightly industrial wind turbines are never constructed. All over the world they are being abandoned, but in Scotland they are being built.

"We will put our future plans in Aberdeen on hold, as will many others, until this ridiculous proposal is defeated.

"Likewise, we will be bringing a lawsuit within the allocated period of time to stop what will definitely be the destruction of Aberdeen and Scotland itself."

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie dismissed Mr Trump's concerns.

"The authorities deserve praise for standing up to the mighty Trump and his hysterical agenda against the renewables industry in Scotland," he said.

"With the majority of public representations received in support of the proposal, ministers and local councils can be confident that they are not alone in refusing Mr Trump's forceful opinions on the EOWDC (European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre) project.

The decision was also welcomed by the Scottish Green Party.

Martin Ford, a Green councillor in Aberdeenshire, said: "It's a significant step for the north-east and for the expansion of the renewable energy industry. The next question is to see whether Mr Trump will throw his hotel out of his pram, as he has long threatened to do."

Mr Ford, a former Lib Dem, was removed by colleagues from his job as chairman of the local authority committee that almost stopped Mr Trump from building his luxury golf, hotel and housing complex.

Economic development group Aberdeen City and Shire Economic Future said both projects should be able to continue.

"We appreciate and sympathise with the concerns raised by the Trump Organisation but, given the national economic significance of both projects, we firmly believe they can co-exist," the group said in a statement.