Critical Factors Affecting Hybrid Renewable Energy Integration in Rural China: A Stakeholder-Oriented DEMATEL-ISM Analysis

Hybrid renewable energy integration (HREI) in rural regions has received limited scholarly attention due to heterogeneous resource endowments, complex development conditions, and multiple coordination challenges. To better understand the factors affecting HREI implementation in rural China, this study develops a stakeholder-oriented analytical framework and applies an integrated DEMATEL–ISM approach. This study identifies 13 critical factors and groups them into four dimensions: complexity of the system, benefit coordination, efficiency coordination, and information coupling. An integrated DEMATEL-ISM approach is employed to examine the causal relationships among these factors and to construct their hierarchical structure. The analysis is informed by a six-member expert panel and a four-round Delphi process. The results show that five factors belong to the cause group and seven to the effect group, while one factor remains balanced. In terms of relative importance, the three highest-weighted factors are synergy degree among multiple agents (CS1, 0.111), information coupling mechanism (IC1, 0.096), and coordinated management of key resources (EC3, 0.093). In terms of net causal influence, complicated rural environment (CS4, R − C = 1.00) is the strongest driving factor, whereas construction and O&M costs (BC3, R − C = −0.77) is the most dependent effect factor. The proposed five-level hierarchical model further indicates that the complicated rural environment, the sustainability of government subsidy policies, and the supervision and service constitute the foundational layer of HREI development. This study provides stakeholder-oriented insights for understanding and promoting HREI in rural China.