Madhusudhan  Adhikari, Rajendra  Shrestha, Bharat  Raj Pahari, 
    Identification, Classification and Prioritization of Rural Electrification
Barriers of Nepal using AHP,
    Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences,
    Volume 15,Issue 7,
    2020,
    Pages 1844-1850,
    ISSN 1816-949x,
    jeasci.2020.1844.1850,
    (https://makhillpublications.co/view-article.php?doi=jeasci.2020.1844.1850)
    Abstract: Electricity is one of the major forms of energy and a pre-requisite for the socioeconomic
development of a nation. However, 12% of Nepalese households still lack access to electricity. Standalone
renewable energy systems such as micro hydro, solar home lighting and wind energy are considered as ways
to accelerate rural electrification. Approximately, 10% of Nepal’s population receives electricity through such
standalone systems. This study analyzes the barriers to rural electrification in Nepal. Barriers are identified,
analyzed and ranked based on expert’s perceptions using analytical hierarchy process. The experts are classified
based on three characteristics: specific expertise, type of organization and years of experience. Areas of
expertise include: policy, implementation, user, academic, technical and finance. The selection criteria ensure
that opinions from a wide variety of stakeholders are represented. Experts are asked to rank barriers in terms
of the cost to remove them, the impact of their removal and the time to remove them. These three factors are
ranked by their relative importance. The impact of their removal is adjudged the most important criteria for
prioritizing barriers, followed by the cost of removal while the time needed to remove barriers was ranked third.
Analysis of the overall ranking of barriers to rural electrification revealed six barriers. In order of their
importance, they are: financial, geographical, policy, legal and administrative, social and technological.
    Keywords: AHP;rural electrification;Energy;Nepal;barrier