A large new solar farm planned in Barkham that faced a delay of more than a decade could now be connected to the national grid in August 2026.

Wokingham Borough Council has plans to install 67,340 solar panels on the former site of High Barn Farm and part of Brook Farm, between Barkham and Finchampstead.

But National Grid previously warned that upgrades would be needed to transmit the energy to the grid. It said that with a long queue of other projects also awaiting upgrades, the connection might not come until 2037.

Yet there was fresh hope when National Grid announced a plan to ease the backlog, prioritising selected projects in a plan to add an extra 10 gigawatts of capacity to the grid.

Now the council says it has written offer from energy distribution company Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks to connect to the grid in August 2026.

Wokingham Borough Council says its legal teams are considering the offer and seeking further clarifications on the offer – and that more details will be presented to councillors on Monday, December 11.

But the council also says that contractors will now complete survey work “ over the next couple of months” and prepare a design to meet planning conditions.